Memory Game
by Swirlee
Summary: Sequel to Game Over. In the dark there is always light. Marie is separated from Sora, and while being stuck in the darkness she must find a way out with the help from her friend from the past, Riku.
1. Chapter One: And so they continued

**Disclaimer:  
**I **Do not** own Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

**Chapter One: And so they continued**

Sora, Donald and Goofy walked along a single grassy road. There were no buildings, or anything they could enter. It was just fields of greenery, and luscious, beautiful trees surrounded by a bright and clear blue sky.

None of the three haven't talked much since Marie disappeared, and in all honesty, when they did talk it wasn't the same. The three of them were so used to Marie there, and since she was gone, the group felt incomplete. Both Donald and Goofy also knew that Sora was hurt the most from her disappearance. When they would take short breaks, they would often see him looking at the sky, and be completely distant. He would also stare at his chain necklace, and sometimes he would smile, most likely of the time he had given Marie her necklace.

It was hard on him, but he managed to carry a smile regardless of the pain he was in.

But even when this pain swallowed him, he still had hope that Marie would turn up. He didn't know how or where, but he could feel her presence. The sweet and innocent air that Marie had around her was still felt by Sora, and this alone has given him hope that she was still around.

"Well," Donald said, breaking the silence. "Now what do we do?"

"That's easy," Sora said, hands placed behind his head. "We find Riku, the King and Marie."

"But, uh," Goofy started. "Where do we start lookin' for that there door to the light?"

Sora, Donald and Goofy stopped mid-way, and they dropped their shoulders as they sighed. Truth be told, they didn't really know where to start, or how they were going to start. What they've been doing so far was walking any random path that came their way. But that changed as a dog appeared who had a letter with a seal on it.

"Pluto?" asked Donald.

"Hey, Pluto. Where have you been?" asked Goofy.

Sora looked at the note, and so did Donald and Goofy. "Gawrsh, that's the King's seal!" Goofy stated.

"Hey, boy," said Sora. "Have you seen Riku, the King or Marie?"

Pluto looked really happy and instantly, as if he did knew, he started running ahead. Goofy and Donald smiled, and Sora ran a little ahead before looking back at them. "Come on!"

Sora, Donald and Goofy followed Pluto hoping to find the king and Riku, and to Sora, he hoped for the best that he would find Marie.

**-x-**

After walking a long way from where they started, Sora and the others decided to take a small break. Sora had been awake, and as usual, he was staring at his necklace. He never tired of staring at it, as it held the greatest memory for him. But then suddenly, Sora heard a noise. He quickly got up, and walked around. As he searched around the area, he heard a voice and gasped as he frantically looked around to where the voice came from.

"Along the road ahead lies something you need," the mysterious voice said.

Sora turned around, and found that no one was there. He raised his eye brow, and looked around until finally he came face to face with a man in a black cloak. Sora began to grow suspicious.

"However—in order to claim it," he continued. "You must lose something that is dear to you."

Sora ran towards the man, taking out his Keyblade. He tried attacking the man, but he disappeared in a matter of seconds. The little specks of darkness that surrounded him, however, lead to the path in front of Sora. It was then that he knew where he would go the next day.

**-x-**

The next day Sora and his companions had followed the path that the man in black disappeared to, and eventually, it lead them to a giant castle that had many contorted exterior shapes. There were rooks pointed at odd angles, and the whole feel of the castle felt very dark, Sora didn't know why, but he felt like he needed to go inside.

Sora walked along, and entered the door. Donald and Goofy didn't disagree, because they too had a the feeling of entering. When they did enter, the walls were completely white, the pillars were white, and even the floor and doors were white. It was a rather strange sight, but everyone remained calm.

"Is it okay to barge in?" asked Goofy.

"If the King is here, then we've got to do it," Donald said.

"Is King Mickey here!" Goofy asked happily and in shock.

"Something just told me he'd be here, okay?" Donald said suspiciously.

"Really? 'Cause now that ya mention it, I was kinda thinkin' the same thing," said Goofy.

"Seriously? Me too! One look at this castle, and I just knew," said Sora. "Our very best friends—they're here."

"Guess great minds think alike," Goofy laughed.

"Wait, hey! Hold on!" Jiminy Cricket popped out from Sora's shoulder. "It can't be just a coincidence!"

"Oh no, Jiminy," Donald started. "Ya don't mean that—"

"Yep, I had it too, mm-hmm!" Jiminy said. "The exact same feeling and everything!"

"Gawrsh, maybe it's contagious," Goofy said in a very scared manner.

"No, no. Something's up," Donald said. "Let's look around."

"Right," agreed Sora. He slowly made his way towards the door, and suddenly Donald began to freak out.

"Wak! Where are you going!" Donald asked angrily.

"To the door, of course" Sora looked back at Donald and smirked. "Are ya scared?"

"Aw, don't be ridiculous!" Donald lied. "Let's go!"

"Hey, Fellahs, shouldn't we shut the door behind us before we go?" asked Goofy. He looked behind him, and gasped. "Sora!"

A man in a black cloak appeared in front of the door, the same man that appeared to Sora when they took that break. "Just who are you!" Sora asked angrily. He, Donald and Goofy took out their weapons, and the man approached them slowly.

"I'll try some magic!" Donald shouted.

THUNDER!" he yelled, pointing his staff towards the man, but nothing came out.

"THUNDER! THUNDER!" Donald shouted repeatedly.

"...Blizzard?" Donald started to get angry. "FIRE!"

"Why isn't it working?" asked Donald, who lowered his shoulders and sighed.

"I think it should be pretty obvious," said the man. "The moment you set foot in this castle, you forgot every spell and every ability you ever knew."

"In this place, to find is to lose, and to lose is to find. That is the way in Castle Oblivion," said the man. He laughed, and disappeared into a dust of darkness. He reappeared later behind Sora and the others.

"Here you will meet people that you have known in the past, and you will meet the people you miss," said the cloaked figure.

"I miss?" asked Sora until he figured it out. "Riku and Marie! You mean they're here!"

"If what you want...is to find them.." the man ran past Sora, and he flew back a few. Sora tried to attack him but he disappeared and appeared in front of another door.

"What did you just do to me?" Sora asked angrily, raising his blade.

"I merely sampled your memories," he said. "And from them, I made this."

The man showed Sora a card with a town—Traverse Town—on it. "To reunite with those you hold dear—" the man threw the card towards Sora.

"A card?" Sora asked.

"A simple promise for the reunion you seek," said the man. "Hold the card to open the door. And beyond it, a new world."

he moved out of the way and showed a beige door behind him. Sora looked at the card, and then at the door. He was utterly confused as to what just happened, but Sora remained calm and looked at the man.

"To lose and claim anew, or to claim anew only to lose..." the man said mysteriously. He disappeared, and this time, for a while. Sora, Donald and Goofy watched as he disappeared, and then they all looked at the card. Sora wasn't so sure about what that man had said, but he had to go along and listen. If he was going to ever meet Riku or Marie, he needed all the help he can get, even if it wasn't from the best of people.

"Alright, let's go you guys," said Sora.

* * *

Well, well, well.

Thy sequel is finally here, even though it's short. I'll warn you now: **Sora will not be in this story as much because I want this short story(ten chapters) to focus on the friendship with Marie and Riku.**

So yes, you guessed right. For all you Riku fans, he's finally getting' some light... in the dark. For now, you're just going to have to wait. C:

Now it's time for some reviews from the original story 'Game Over'.

**Geassvampire96:**  
Thank you very much! Here is the sequel, but the official sequel, KH2, will also be written about.

**Yuuka-Chann:**  
D'aww! Thank you very much, I feel so honored that you felt inspired by Game Over. And the fact that it's your favorite. XD

**sajere1:**  
Haha, posted! And yes, you are quite psychic. xD

**Lele-the-Greek-Geek:**  
Aw, yes, giant cliff-hangers are what I'm known for. XD  
Thank you so much for your compliments, and here is the first chapter!  
If you still need to know anything, just learn about reverse/rebirth. The plot mainly surrounds Riku's story.  
And thank you for you congratulations! I feel so accomplished! And OMG! Degrassi fan unites! I can't wait for the new season! Although I won't lie, I actually kinda liked Fitz. He was cute in a serial killer kind of way. XD

**KCeee:**  
Aw lol, I honestly didn't expect it to be sweet. More like, rip your hair out why the hell did that happen kind of feeling. XD

**xLiesOfLovex:**  
NUU! I want cookies!  
Ahaha, they'll be a lot of stories out for kh. SO PREPARE.  
And no problem, if someone mentions a story in their review I always read it. If you're reading mine, I'll do the same!

**1st class Solider Girl13:**  
Thank you very much! I personally prefer endings like that too.

**an1995616:**  
Marie will be back, but will she reunite with Sora? Only time can tell.  
Well, she herself won't go, but her nobody will. Her name is Aura, but that's all I'm telling you. XD

**pokemonsora01:**  
Yes, I know. DX  
Aha, and here is your sequel!

**Flocon de Neige:**  
I've sent you an email with my full thanks but short story, thank you soooooooooooooooooooo much for you honesty! I hope this is a good start so far, and If I still need some improvement, please by all means, be blunt!

**Alexandria Volturi:**  
I sent you the email! XD  
Hey, my middle name is suspense and cliffhangers, it's what I do.  
But thank you very much for your compliment, hopefully with the great advice I got, I'll improve!

**Sayonara Yasashii Akumu:**  
Ahaha, I know, right?  
Cliff-hangers love me. :D


	2. Chapter Two: Past and Present

**Please read below**

**On November 25th I will be leaving Canada and vacationing to Guatemala for 3 MONTHS.** That means no computer, no internet, no nothing. I'm trying my best to get Memory Game done before I leave, because I really do want to finish it. I'll return from my trip on February 23rd, 2011.

OH AND LONG CHAPTER IS LONG. Like, 7,000+ words. ENJOY!

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**Chapter Two: Past and Present **

_Marie._

_She traveled with the Keyblade wielder, Sora, and together they returned all the worlds to their original selves. The final door—Kingdom Hearts—was sealed using the power of the Keyblade, and for the most part, everything seemed fine._

_Riku, another Keyblade wielder, chose to stay in the darkness and help King Mickey. Sora and Marie stayed on the other side, and watched as the door slowly closed. Disconnecting them from their friend._

_Since Kingdom Hearts was sealed, everything related to it must return to where it came from; light. However, Marie was created through natural means, and thus was not able to return. She instead disappeared from Sora, and drifted into the darkness. There, she will be a light to the darkness that was once—and still is—her friend, Riku._

**Marie**

Darkness shrouded everything that I could ever see, it was depressing, disgusting, horrifying and hurtful.

…...Of course that was mainly due to the fact that my eyes were closed. So I opened my eyes and concentrated on what was in front of me, which was a room filled with white walls, white pillars, and a white floor. There's a beige door ahead of me as well, but right now I was focused on something else that was new:

The serious and killing pain that came from my backside. Geez, did I fall from the ceiling or something? This is nuts. I rubbed my lower back, and continued to examine my surrounding area. I closed my eyes and sighed, but then images of what happened came to my head.

Last I remembered, we saved the worlds by sealing up Kingdom Hearts. Riku and the King were on the opposite side, so I'm guessing their doing their part and trying to do whatever they had to do. After that, Sora ran to Kairi, and then she too, disappeared.

After that, I thought everything was going well. But... I started to disappear, just before...

….wait...

"**DAMNIT!**" I angrily shouted out loud. I disappeared right when Sora was about to kiss me! Why does everything fail on me? No going back to my home, no seeing my mom, and now, no kiss from prince charming!

...I hate my life right now.

_'I see you have awoken from your sleep.'_

"Huh? Stella, that you?" I asked. "Huh, so now you decided to talk?"

_'While you and the other Keyblade wielders sealed me up, I was shortly disconnected from you. I needed to regain lost power, and have everything that holds my power return to me.'_

"Huh," I said, but then I realized, why didn't I return to Stella? "Hey, why didn't I 'return'?"

_'You're an actual human being. A soul, a heart, and a body. I merely lend you power, so you cannot return because you are not a manifestation of my power, just a person who can control it.'_

"I see," I said, taking in what she said. "So where am I? And why am I here?"

_'That will be explained to you soon by someone else. My connection to you is weak in this place, so I'll only have limited time to talk to you. But know this: you will be a light to the person who was consumed by the darkness. He has done good on his own, but as a friend, he will need you'_

"I wonder who it'll be," I said. I waited for a response, but I didn't get one. "Stella?"

no response.

"Guess she lost contact," I said out loud. I sighed, and made my way to the beige door. I examined it, and noticed there was no door knob. I tried pushing the door, but that wasn't helping either.

"Open, damn you!" I shouted. I stepped back a few, and tried ramming into the door.

...except I got hurt instead. This is getting me nowhere, and so I went back down to the stairs and leaned against the small wall beside the stairs. I began to think of a way to open the door, and all that really popped up was the events that happened at the end of the world.

Then I began to think of the kiss that I could have gotten from Sora.

"**Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!**"

**Riku**

In an area bounded by both darkness and light, laid the ever straight forward Riku. He floated in the middle of nothing, and sleeping soundly as if nothing he had ever done happened.

But then he awoke, and slowly opened his eyes. Unaware of where he was, he decided to ask aloud. "Where am I..."

"Sleep," said a mysterious and cunning voice. Taking in the sound of the voice, Riku gasped, realizing that someone was talking to him in an area he thought was no where.

"Sleep," said the voice. "Here, between light and dark."

Riku looked around trying to figure out where the voice came from, and realized that no one was with him. He questioned what the voice meant when it said to sleep in between light and dark, but these thoughts and questions halted when Riku began to think about the King.

"Where's the king?" he angrily asked. "We closed the door to darkness..but.."

"you drifted here by yourself," the voice said, providing Riku as to how he arrived. "strength you did not have when it came to overcoming the darkness. Or perhaps you were close to it?"

"Hmph," Riku scoffed. "you talk like I'm some demon."

the voice chuckled, and began to speak again. "Turn from the light. This place is covered by the darkness. So should you sleep, you shall be safe."

"Of course..." the man finished, and right after he spoke a light appeared in front of Riku. He covered his eyes from the blinding brightness, and later focused on a blue card that appeared in front of him.

"And what's this?" Riku asked, interested yet hesitant at the same time.

"A door to the truth," the man provided, but he also gave a warning. "should you take it, your sleep will end. The truth will bring pain, but will you go?"

Riku's eyes stared intensely at the card, examining it. Hesitation filled his mind again, but if he remained here what good will it do? While the King is most likely fighting off the darkness? Riku couldn't allow this, he couldn't just stay in a secluded place and sleep. He lifted his arm slowly, and grabbed the card.

"This place is boring," Riku smirked. "Who would take a nap here?"

"Well said," acknowledged the voice.

The same light that briefly blinded Riku appeared again, and he covered his eyes as the light transported him into a different room. He opened his eyes, and examined the room. The walls, the floor, everything was white. Before examining more of the room, he looked at the card, what was the truth that the voice said? Riku thought about this for a moment, but then looked forward, and the scene in front of him made him raise his eyebrow.

What he saw would have probably tempted him to face-palm, but he refrained from doing so greatly. What he saw, was Marie banging her head against the wall near a beige door. He slowly walked up to her, and while doing so resisted the urge to laugh. Why on earth why she banging her head against the wall? What would even cause her to do that?

Riku walked further towards her, and he could hear her mumble some words. Unable to hear what they are, he walked closer.

"Damnit...Damnit.." she repeated. She stopped, and then banged her head harder on the wall. "**Damnit!**"

"Just what are you doing?" asked Riku, interested in what she would say.

"I'm prancing around singing happy songs," she sarcastically said. "What do you think I'm doing!"

She stopped banging her head, and rubbed it. She got up, and then turned around. Her eyes widened at the person who was in front of her.

"Riku?"

**Marie**

"What are you doing here?" I asked, shocked and confused.

"Don't know," he said.

"Oh," I said. I began to think of all the times I encountered Riku, to be honest, they weren't all nice ones, but I couldn't place bad judgment on him because he's my friend. Still, why did it feel so awkward standing in front of him?

"Did that banging cause you to go deaf or something?" I heard him say.

"Wha?" I said, I was clearly not paying attention.

Riku sighed, and then started chuckling. "I asked how you came here."

"Dunno, Stella didn't tell me," I said as if everyone knew Stella. I looked at Riku, and he gave me a weird look. "What?"

"Who's Stella?" Riku asked.

"Kingdom Hearts," I said. Riku gave me another weird look, except this time it made his face look contorted. He later looked a bit surprised. He shouldn't be surprised, he was the first to know I had power from it.

"Why are you so surprised?" I asked, giving him a suspicious look. "Do you know something I don't?"

"No, it's not that," he said. "I just didn't know you could talk to Kingdom Hearts. I only thought it only gave you power."

"Oh, well I can talk to her," I said. "Her name's Stella."

I looked around the room, and then I remembered the door that didn't have a door knob or anything on it. I don't know how I'm going to go through there if I don't have anything to open it with. I looked at Riku, and thought maybe he would know something.

"Hey, Riku. Do you know how to open that door?" I asked, pointing at the beige door.

He looked down and stared at a blue card in his hand, and the he raised it up to his face. "Maybe this will open it."

"What is it?" I asked.

"A card that'll hold the truth," he said. I didn't quite understand what he meant by that, so I just watched and followed as he walked to the door. He raised the card above him, and then the door began to open.

"Well, are we gonna go?" he looked over to me, and smirked. I nodded, and he started walking ahead. I walked behind him, but then I began to wonder.

Is Riku the person that Stella was talking about? She did say he needed a friend... But I also need a friend. And to be honest, Riku's been the first and only friend that I thought about all the time. There's Aqua and Ansem, but they're more family than friends.

Regardless, if Riku needs my help I'll be there.

Pressing on, we walked through the door, and immediately I recognized the place. It was no doubt Hollow Bastion. Every time I see this place, it brings back the memories I had with Ansem and Aqua. I sighed, it's so hard fighting on grounds that were considered a sanctuary to me.

I looked at Riku, and he was looking around frantically, and I raised my eyebrow. And hes the one calling me weird?

**Riku**

Riku looked around as a voice kept being heard in his head.

_'What you see is not real. It's the world of your memory.'_

Riku questioned what the voice meant by his memory, and still continued to look around. Marie stood beside him, and continued to look around the castle. She was aware of Riku looking around frantically, but she merely assumed he was looking at the area like she was.

_'The things you remember from your time at Maleficent's castle became a card, and that card made this world. You've seen everything here before, haven't you?'_

"So what?" Riku said out loud. "Am I gonna learn something? Or meet someone?"

Marie looked at Riku, and raised her brow. She was not able to hear the voice that Riku was able to hear, so she was constantly giving Riku a weird look.

_'you'll meet the people in your memories.'_

"What does that mean?" Riku asked out loud again. But when he got no response, he grew angry. "I'm asking you a question!"

"Who are you talking to!" Marie finally asked, annoyed at his random tantrums.

Riku looked at Marie, and she was standing there with her hands on her hips. He almost forgot she was there since he was so used to being alone. In fact, he almost forgot that she was originally with Sora.

"I just realized," he said. "Where's Sora?"

Marie blushed. For every time she thought about Sora, she thought about the kiss. She shook her head, and looked at Riku. "I disappeared right after we sealed up Kingdom Hearts, so I don't know where he is."

"...Why did you just shake your head?" he asked, suddenly feeling suspicious.

"...I was just thinking of something," she replied, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"...Like?" Riku asked as he smirked. "Were you thinking of Sora?"

"No," she replied quickly, hinting to Riku that she was lying. "Let's just go already!"

Marie went behind Riku and began to push him so he could start walking. He was obviously bigger and heavier than her, so she struggled a bit. Riku laughed, and nostalgia suddenly hit him. Those times he had spent with Marie when they were little were the times he valued so much. Although he couldn't tell her how much he missed her because of their positions, he hoped that maybe this was a sign to catch up.

A sign to catch up with a friend from the past.

**Marie**

After hopelessly pushing Riku, he finally began to move. I gave a sigh of relief and followed him, and since we both knew the layout of Hollow Bastion, it was easier to to get where we needed to go.

For the first time, I was officially separated from Sora. I had no clue where he was, or how I was going to get to him, but I knew I was going to see him. Regardless of what comes between us, I wasn't going to leave this place without him.

But to be honest, I was actually quite happy that I was with Riku. There are so many things that I wanted to tell him, what happened after I left the islands, the fun I had, and the people I've met... all of this happening while missing my best friend.

My thoughts were interrupted when a bunch of heartless appeared before us. Riku immediately took out his weapon and started attacking, and I did the same. A shadow came running up to me, and I quickly made it disappear. A defender heartless came running at me, and I tried blocking. It totally disregarded my block, as I fell to the floor, but I rolled out of the way just in time, and Riku managed to take care of the heartless.

"Geez," I said. "that was the quickest battle I've ever had."

"Well, I'm good," he replied, cocky as ever.

"One thing that hasn't changed about you," I said. "Is your cockiness."

I remember when we were younger, Riku would always say that he was the best at everything. When we used to prank other kids, we kept a score at who's prank was better. We were tied as far as I knew, but I think I would suck at them now.

"I can't deny the truth," Riku laughed. "You know, even though we haven't seen each other for ten years, I feel like it was just yesterday we last hung out."

"I feel the same," I said.

For a moment, I kind of felt like I was on Cozy street again. The feelings I had were starting to spur up again, but those feelings were long gone when I was in Hollow Bastion.

I saw Riku wave his hand, and we began walking to the nearest door. Those thoughts left my head, as I had pushed them back.

**Riku**

Although Marie didn't say anything about it, Riku knew very well that she liked Sora. He made it very obvious in Hollow Bastion when he would constantly worry and ask about Marie, or even when Riku kidnapped her in Neverland. He truly did regret doing that, but it was for the sake of Kairi. But even so, he vowed to himself he wouldn't use his friends for his own selfish wants.

Truth be told, during the time when Riku first met Marie sparks were let out. Before Kairi came along, most girls didn't hang out with Riku due to their little girl crushes. But Marie was still in her 'boys have cooties' stage, so she didn't care about that. At that time, Riku considered it just a silly little crush. But those feelings were starting to rise up again, and he wasn't sure why. He thought they left the moment Marie was kidnapped.

But he wasn't complaining.

**Marie**

We made our way through the many rooms and hall ways of Hollow Bastion, until we came across a small room. The walls were a dark shade of green, and the floor was a light green carpet. There was an area full of books, and a small bed in the right corner.

"No way," Riku said. "This is my room."

I looked at the room, and I felt weird. Riku and I both had rooms in this place, mine from the past, and his from the present. I don't know if it meant anything, but _i_ had the feeling it was telling me something.

I looked at Riku, and he was looking around like he did before. Seriously, what is up with him?

**Riku**

_'Does it feel nice to be back in your room? All those memories...'_

Riku looked around, it was that voice again. He stopped looking around, and just continued to look up. The memories he had in this world, let alone this room, he could do without. They weren't necessary, and they certainly weren't important. Marie kept looking at him, and merely questioned his sanity. If there was something bothering him he certainly wouldn't tell her on his own, she would have to ask of course.

_'You lived here, tempted by the darkness she offered. You ditched your home, friends.. everything. But they gave you a nice room.'_

"Stop talking!" Riku yelled. He ran out of the room, and left a very confused Marie looking at him as he ran. She sighed, and looked at the room. There wasn't anything of importance, but then something suddenly appeared on Riku's bed.

She walked up to it, and a picture appeared flat on his bed. She picked it up, and instantly smiled when she looked at it. It was a picture of her and Riku sticking their tongues out at the camera, and Riku had his hands behind Marie's head making bunny ears. There were so many memories left behind when she left, but she couldn't dwell on the past. That was done, and now she had to focus on the present. She walked out of the room, and saw that Riku was leaning on a nearby wall.

"What took you so long to get out of there?" he asked, a little annoyed.

"If something's bothering you, let me help," she handed Riku the picture of them, and he stared at it. "I'm your friend, no matter what we've been through."

Riku looked at the picture, and a soft chuckle escaped his lips. He remembered this picture clearly, it was Marie's mother that took it. His mom was beside her, and they both laughed as their children posed for the camera. He knew he was never one to ask for help, but if he wanted to patch things up with Marie, he had to open up more to her.

"I keep hearing a voice," he finally said. "The same voice telling me to find the truth."

"So that's why you keep acting weird every now and then," she replied. "I can't hear it, but I'll still help."

Riku laughed, Marie's eagerness to help was almost always her downfall. But that's what partially made her... well, Marie. He certainly wasn't going to ignore her help, but he knew for a fact that she hd _some_ trust issues with him. He needed to prove that he was still the same friend that she knew.

"Glad to have it," he said. "Let's keep going, this place is boring."

Marie laughed, and she started to march forward. Riku gave her a weird look, and she noticed. She blushed at the slight embarrassment of herself, Riku was definitely different compared to Sora. But this difference was what she liked about Riku.

Marie looked at Riku, and she waved her hand at him. He smiled and lead the way, and so started the construction of their friendship.

**Marie**

We walked around and fought some heartless until we found another door. Luckily, the heartless drop cards for Riku to use and open up other rooms, so we had a means to open up the doors. We walked into the next room, and we were on the upper level of the grand hall in Hollow Bastion. It was the area where I was able to bring Sora back from the darkness.

Riku looked around, and there was no one here. He jumped down the high edge, and walked to the middle. This felt so familiar, like in Wonderland. The first time I jumped really high was with Sora, now I'm doing it again in a different location with a different boy. I looked down at the floor, and Riku looked at me.

"You jumping or what?" he asked. If it was with Sora, I would have no problem making a fool out of myself if I fell miserably, but I was with Riku. I didn't want to look weak or pathetic, so I had to make sure this jump was absolutely perfect.

I took a deep breath, and I jumped.

...Probably should've taken the stairs. I landed nicely on the floor, but then as I got up I started to wobble as I tried to gain my balance, but I instead fell flat on my face. Just when I thought my landings were good, they decide to be mean to me. What a life.

"Last time I saw you jump you were pretty good," I heard Riku laugh. "What happened?"

"That was probably a fluke," I mumbled, lying on the floor and refusing to get up. "I thought I had mastered it but..."

"Sure you did," he laughed. "Give me your hand."

I looked up, and I extended my hand to Riku. With ease he lifted me up, and I hadn't realized it before, but Riku is incredibly tall. Or I was just too short, either way, he's tall. As I got up, Riku began to look around like he did, and I'm guessing the voice he was talking about is talking to him.

"Of course I want to see them!" he yelled, and I merely watched as he continued to look and talk. I felt bad that he's the only one who is able to hear this voice, and I know I said I would help, but if I can't hear anything, how can I help?

**Riku**

_'Your heart only knows how to cast away, and thus it is empty like your room. That's why you can't meet anyone.'_

Riku began to grow furious, he knew for a fact that his heart didn't cast away anyone. It's true that he wanted to travel to other worlds, but he never wanted to leave his friends. If anything, he wanted to bring them along, and how could he leave them? They're his best friends; Kairi and Sora.

_'Your heart is hollow—except for the residual darkness.'_

"Shut up!" Riku shouted. "I turned down the darkness!"

_'Did you really?'_

Riku had enough of the voice talking, and ran outside of the room, forgetting that Marie was there with him. She stared as he ran out, and she quickly followed with a look of worry on her face.

**Marie**

I'm beginning to think boys are worse than girls when they get angry. Riku keeps running out of the rooms every time he's talking to that voice, or at least I think he was.

"You gotta calm down," I said, walking towards him.

"It bugs me," he said. "That voice acts like it knows me better than me."

"No one knows you better than you," I said. "Remember that."

"Easy for you to say," he retorted. "You don't suffer with the darkness."

"True," I agreed. "But don't you remember what King Mickey said?"

"There will always be a door to the light," Riku repeated. "And?"

"There's always gonna be a light," I said. "So no matter how deep in darkness you're in, a light will always shine."

Riku looked at the floor, and started chuckling. I hoped what I had said got to him, because although I haven't told him directly, I want him to know that I'll help him out of the darkness any way I can. I'm still thinking of a way to say it without making it sound like something it's not.

I began to shake the feelings away, and I looked at Riku. I walked up to him, and grabbed his hand. He looked up at me, and I simply smiled at him. I wasn't going to let my friend suffer anymore.

"Come on, Mr. Grumpy," I joked. "We still need to continue."

Riku got up, let go of my hand, and we began walking to the nearest door around us. He looked at me, and he smiled. "You've changed."

"How so?" I asked.

"Not as childish, I guess," he said. "But that's good."

I started to laugh, but very lightly. Both of us knew it wasn't the same as it was on the Islands, but for some reason I like the way we are right now. We both grew up, and whatever childish attitudes we had were left behind. I've always considered myself mature for my age, and Riku was the same. Maybe this is why we became such close friends.

We walked to another door, but this door had a rather large glowing crown on it. Riku took out the cards he had with him, and found a card similar to the crown. When he offered it another card appeared, and it was a green card. Riku offered another green card, and then the door opened. A bright light appeared before us, and Riku covered his eyes. I only squinted, and I was able to see through the door. I walked through first, and I waited for Riku to come in after.

We took the lead, and we walked ahead. We saw Maleficent up ahead, and I actually gasped at the sight. I hadn't seen her since Neverland, and Sora told me that he had defeated her in Hollow Bastion. So it really was a surprise to see her.

**Riku**

Riku looked at the wretched woman in front of him. He nearly scoffed at the sight of her, but he held it in. He knew he was going to see her soon, and it just so happened to be now.

"I knew you would return," she said.

"Why are you alive?" he asked, cautious of her.

"I'm just a figment of your memory," she said. She looked at Marie, and smiled. "It's so nice to see you as well, my dear."

"I haven't seen you since Neverland," responded Marie. "And I can't say the same for you."

"Why are you here?" asked Riku.

"Your heart is steeped in darkness," answered Maleficent. "So you only see those who exist in that same darkness."

"Question," Marie interrupted. "Why can he see me? I'm not even remotely related to darkness."

"To be quite honest, I question that too," she answered. "But it most likely has to do with your power."

She looked at Riku. "And you should be grateful you have company. Your heart is empty."

"It was I who granted you the darkness you longed for," Maleficent reminded. "Come and join me again."

"I won't lie that I gave up my heart to the dark," Riku said. "But not anymore. You no longer have anything to offer."

Riku walked passed Maleficent and Marie followed close behind. She walked a little ahead, and then she stopped when Riku did. She was very proud that Riku was trying to rid the darkness away, and she was prepared to fight for him if Maleficent attacked.

"If I see people like you, people of the dark," he said. "I'll take you out one by one!"

Maleficent smirked, and walked further away from Riku and Marie. "Then you mustn't forget to destroy yourself last."

"That won't happen," Marie warned. "As long as I'm here Riku won't fall into anything, and I can promise you that!"

"Is that so?" Maleficent inquired. "Saving someone from the darkness is harder than you think."

"Enough, Maleficent!" Riku shouted.

"Hmph," Maleficent turned towards Riku and Marie. "You poor boy. Let me end your pain with darkness."

Maleficent's body turned green, and she instantly turned into her dragon self. Riku and Marie took out their weapons, and prepared for the battle. Unlike Sora, Riku was the first to strike, and he was quick about it as well. Marie noticed this, and wasn't as surprised considering she fight alongside him inside Monstro that time. She looked at Maleficent and examined her moves. She didn't know when it started, but Marie definitely got a habit of reading the enemies moves. She noticed that Maleficent would spout out green fireballs after being hit after five times, other than that she didn't have any other attacks except for randomly hitting with her hand.

Marie ran around Maleficent, and attacked her legs behind. Riku did a good job of keeping her distracted, and prevented her from attacking. Throughout the fight, Marie couldn't help but notice that Riku was a very skilled fighter. This fight was easy as well, and she didn't know if it was because of Riku.

He attacked her again for about the sixth time, and he was going in for a seventh. Marie distanced herself, and decided to cast Heart Light. It was successful, and she ran closer to attack.

While Marie was thinking on Riku and his fighting capabilities, Riku thought the same. When they were fighting together in Monstro she looked uncomfortable, but now, she looks in tune with herself and her attacks are fluid. He also noticed her new set of spells from Kingdom Hearts, and they were more powerful than the original spells she and Sora learned.

He shook his head, and concentrated on the fight. He could think of all that stuff after, but now he needed to defeat Maleficent. He ran towards her, and attacked her one final time. He stepped back a few, and stood near Marie as Maleficent fell.

She turned into a card, and Riku picked it up. He didn't feel bad whatsoever for destroying her since she was darkness, and she wasn't worth the time to cry over. Marie walked over to Riku, and looked at the card. She was happy that Riku had the strength to overcome Maleficent's darkness, but there was more, and she was going to be by his side and help him out of the darkness.

They began to walk outside of the room, and headed to the next.

**Marie**

I felt really happy for some reason, but I'm guessing it was because Riku had told Maleficent that he didn't need the darkness. I didn't know how hard he struggled with it until now, but he won't have to struggle with it anymore. He has a strong heart as well, and it's only getting stronger.

There was another room in front of us, and we entered it. As it turns out, we were in a room exactly the same as the one I met Riku in. Everything was white, and the door was beige. I kind of felt like we were going in circles, since this room came up.

"Why do you turn from the darkness?" I heard a voice, and it sounded familiar. Riku merely scoffed, and looked forward.

"I know you heard what I said to Maleficent," he replied.

"But it is your weapon," the voice said. "you'll have no choice but to except if you are to serve me again."

a dark portal appeared, and then a man appeared. My eyes widened, and I was I complete shock. It was Ansem. The Ansem I thought we defeated. The Ansem who was nothing but an imposter.

"I thought it was you," Riku replied, not surprised at all.

"You don't seem surprised," he replied. He looked at me, and I instantly raised up my guard. "But you most certainly do."

"I thought you were gone," I said.

"Riku is the only one to appropriate serve me," he replied. "I cannot be gone until done so."

He smirked, and Riku grew angry. He took out his blade, and ran towards Ansem. I shouted his name, but when he attacked Ansem he was immediately thrown back. I ran up to Riku and grabbed onto his shoulders to help him up. We both looked at Ansem, who was smirking.

"Did you really think you could do me harm?" he asked. "A weakling like you couldn't even defeat Sora—and you had darkness on your side—"

"Don't you talk about Sora!" I yelled. "How dare you even use his name! You have no right!"

Ansem started laughing, which only made me even more angrier. "You say Riku's a weakling yet you were defeated by Sora too!"

Ansem walked closer to us, and I seriously had my Keyblade ready to attack him. He stopped midway, and just looked at us. I don't know what went on in this guys head, but whatever it was, it sickened. His whole being, no, his who existence sickened me.

"Don't get cocky with me," he warned. "You're only a speck of light, and it's not enough to help him out of the darkness."

Ansem pointed at Riku, and then I began to think of what Stella told me. I will be a light to the person who was consumed by darkness. She meant Riku, which makes sense. He was consumed, but now he's not, and I plan to keep it that way!

"Darkness can offer you all the strength you need," Ansem said to Riku. I was about ready to take out my Keyblade, when all of a sudden, we both heard a voice. "You're wrong!"

a sparkle of light came floating down towards us, and it appeared right beside Riku. I was shocked, as I didn't know there could be another source of light other than myself. I stayed close to Riku as I watched the light approach us.

"Your Majesty!" Riku exclaimed. My eyes widened even more, what's the King doing here?

"Remember Riku, you're not alone," the King—or the sparkle of light—made it's way into Riku's heart. "The light'll never give up on you, just look to you left."

Riku looked at me, and I gave him a confused look. Did the King mean I'm the light? "Marie is that light, and she will always be with you, even in the deepest darkness!" he said.

Riku got up, and I did after. He glared at Ansem, and took out his blade. "I won't lose to darkness," he said.

Ansem smirked, and looked rather confident despite what the King had just said. I didn't know the King well, but just as Goofy said; I can trust him.

"You think that feeble little light can save you from the darkness I command?" yelled Ansem. He lifted himself up, and a burst of darkness came rushing towards us. I ran in front of Riku, and placed my blade in front of him. Sure enough, my blade deflected the darkness, and I looked at Riku.

"Get up, Riku," I said sternly. "Let's show him how well you fight with light by your side!"

Riku got up, and took out his blade. He quickly ran towards Ansem, and started attacking. I didn't attack him physically, because I know this was mainly Riku's fight. I only fired rounds of Heart Light when Riku looked like he was in a bind. Riku landed a few more attacks, and then Ansem pulled away.

"It seems you really are resistant from going back to the darkness," Ansem said. "Take this."

He threw a bunch of cards to Riku, and examined it. They were cards that had the pictures of Traverse Town, Agrabah, Monstro and Neverland.

"It's a card from your memory," Ansem explained. "Go through and you will understand that light won't save you from the darkness."

"You'll see that I won't give in to darkness," Riku stated. "And then I'll win!"

"Here is a gift for you," Ansem said. He stuck our his hand, and a black ball of darkness appeared on Riku's chest. He clutched it, and fell on one knee. I stayed close to him, and he glared at Ansem. "What did you do?" he angrily asked.

"I tempered the darkness that remains in your heart," he explained. "Use it or not, it's your choice."

Ansem disappeared, and Riku still had one knee to the floor. I bent down near him, and stayed there until he was feeling better. He looked at the cards, and then he looked at me. I had never really noticed, but Riku had nice eyes along with a nice eye shape. It made me kind of sad though, because if I told Sora or Kairi, they would probably say they were used to seeing them everyday. I had to start from scratch, but that was fine with me.

I then felt a strong hand ruffle my hair, and I grabbed it. I looked at Riku, and he started to laugh. I stuck out my tongue, and started ruffling his hair too. Soon enough, we started getting into a little play fight on who was going to mess who's hair badly.

**Zexion and Lexaeus **

Zexion, a silver haired blue eyed man was in the middle of a dark room. The walls were made out of stone, and the floor was also made out of stone. He had a finger placed on his chin, and was thinking deeply. A portal of darkness appeared and out came Lexaeus, a tall, masculine, short brown haired, blue eyed man. A short and awkward silence came about, until Zexion shook his head.

"Don't I even warrant a hello, Lexaeus?" Zexion asked, offended that Lexaeus couldn't even say hello. Another portal of darkness appeared, and a man with long blonde hair and green eyes named Vexen came out.

"What is going on here, Zexion?" he asked. "Explain to me."

"So nice to see you as well, Vexen," Zexion said sarcastically. "It's a shame. The Organization used to be the rope that bound us together."

"You're only number six! So how dare you—"

"Let it go, Vexen," interrupted Lexaeus.

Vexen stared at Lexaeus in disbelief, but shook his head to let it go. Lexaeus looked at Zexion, and continued to talk. "Zexion, tell us. What did you detect?"

"Visitors," he replied. "I picked up about three scents in the castle's lowest basement."

"Maleficent was one of them," Zexion continued.

"Don't be crazy," Vexen interrupted. "She's gone and she cannot return from the realm of darkness of her own volition."

"I'm not done," Zexion. "It belonged to a very convincing double, not the real Maleficent. But I can't say much beyond that since the double is no more. Our other visitors saw to that."

Lexaeus looked and felt a little uncomfortable for unknown reasons, but continued to ask. "And who are they?"

"I'm still not sure," Zexion replied. "But the scents were very similar to that of the superior and Kingdom Hearts."

"And yet, not exactly the same, was it?" Vexen added. "This truly piques my curiosity."

"What should we do?" Zexion asked, looking at Lexaeus. He looked down, and placed a finger on his chin. He thought for a moment, but then came up with a answer. "We wait—see what develops."

**Riku**

Riku and Marie walked along the white hallways with their hair completely messed up. Riku looked around, while Marie tried fixing her hair. Never again will she try to ruffle Riku's hair again since his hair doesn't look as bad as her's.

Riku stopped, and Marie bumped into his back. "What's wrong?"

"Something smells familiar," he said, smelling his hand. He gasped, and looked at Marie. "It's darkness, I smell it in my skin."

Riku looked discouraged, and Marie patted his back. A voice was suddenly heard, and they looked around. A speck of light appeared, and almost immediately Riku recognized it.

"Your majesty!" he shouted. The small light landed on the floor, and a bright light appeared. The king popped out after, and Riku smiled. Marie noticed that the king was see through, but the king just smiled at them. Riku also noticed that he was see through, and suddenly began to worry. "I can see right through you!"

"Funny, huh?" the king said, looking at his small body. "I can only send a bit of my power to this place."

"Hey that's like Stella!" Marie exclaimed, and the King nodded in understanding.

"Yes, Kingdom hearts can only talk to you at times," the king said. "But I've got a request for ya. You've gotta fight the darkness in you, and don't forget. The light is with you." The king pointed at Marie, and she stepped up a bit, and nodded.

"Marie, you are the light of Kingdom Hearts," he told her. "I'm sure it has told you to help that someone out of the darkness."

"Yea, she did," Marie confirmed. "Did it mean Riku?"

"Yes, it did," the King told her. "If you believe in each other, nothing can harm either of you. That's a request from my heart."

"Hey, no problem!" Marie exclaimed happily. "We'll do out best, right Riku?"

Riku nodded, and the King smiled at both of them. "I'll try to find a way to reach you, I promise."

King Mickey stuck out his hand, and Riku went to shake it. His hand went through it, and Riku felt a little disappointed. The king merely smiled, and reassured Riku. "Don't worry, we shook hands in our hearts. We're connected, you and me."

"Guess we are," Riku agreed, and the king disappeared. Marie looked at her hand, and when the King told Riku that they were connected, it made Marie sad. She and Sora are connected through their hearts, and she missed him so incredibly much. She touched her necklace, and closed her eyes.

She was going to see him, no matter what.

* * *

Chapter two finally finished! And it's LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG.  
I can't really say much about Riku and Marie, but I'll let you guys talk it out. Also, I checked into it, Riku visits about 10-11 worlds. So If the chapters are long like this, or close to it, I'll be able to make it to chapter 10 spot on. xD

Thank you:  
**HitsugayaxOkami  
Alexandria Volturi  
KillerKunoichi94  
The Silver Magician of Chaos  
sajere1  
Kurai-Darkness  
antaurilover685  
Lele-the-Greek-Geek  
KingdomHeartsRemixXx  
TheKeeperofKingdomHearts1  
Chimichar  
KingdomHeartsObsessed522  
1st class Solider Girl13  
**

-looks at list- damn that's a lot for the first chapter. Well anyways, thank you guys for favoring this story! Much love!

Thank you:  
**Edward Cullen's Girl  
Lele-the-Greek-Geek  
KingdomHeartsObsessed522  
an1995616  
Yuuka-Chann  
pokemonsora01  
DarkMarionette182  
Kurai-Darkness  
sajere1  
KingdomHeartsRemixXx  
Little Rock Bear1996  
**

-looks at list- damn...  
thanks for putting this story in your alert list! Much love!

**Lele-the-Greek-Geek:**  
Ahaha, aw thanks!  
Yes, unfortunately. But we will see him in KH2!  
And that's good, although I will admit now, it'll focus more on the friendship than the actual plot.  
AND OMFGGG. I CAN'T WAIT EITHER!  
Yea, I don't know why, but he strikes me as interesting.  
Oh, and let me tell you. I saw Drew, or Luke at one of the malls I hang out at. I completely forgot he's a Canadian actor, so I was like, whoa! What's he doing here!

**1st class Solider Girl13:**  
Thank you! And here is your chapter, a bit long, but that's okay, right?

**an1995616:**  
Haha, I hope you like it!

**warrior of six blades:**  
Thank you so much! I will try my best! And here is the second chapter, I hope I did a good job with it.

**pokemonsora01:**  
Oh don't worry, questions are allowed. XD  
Yes, I will make a KH2 story, and it shall be epic since the game itself is epic. And yes, Marie will find her back to Sora. Or Sora will find his way to her... yea, HE will find a way to her. xD

**Kurai-Darkness:**  
Thank you, I hope you enjoy it!  
Oh and of course! She'll be important to both Roxas and Marie's nobody,[who I have named] Aura. I could never forget Xion!

**sajere1:**  
Marie is here, banging her head on walls! XD  
Man you're good! I just posted. XD

**Sayonara Yasashii Akumu:**  
I got your real review! XD  
Yes it will be a short story, but with long chapters.  
Thank you very much, I was just gonna do KH2, but I really wanted an in-depth story. So I started from the first! XD

**KingdomHeartsRemixXx:**  
Oh~ thank you!  
I'm very glad you decided to comment, and I'll read your story asap.  
Yes, they will reunite in KH2, and many problems will arise. Both personal and worlds-wide.  
Oh, and I can't wait to read your story of it!

**XxI-Stole-Your-CookiexX:**  
But because you were a constant commenter, I hope you read this!  
Thank you so much for loving the story! I'm so honored that 'Game Over' made your day better, and I hope you continue to read the series I have planned out!  
And Cloud, that sexah beast he is.

**warrior of six blades:**  
You also commented on here, so I decided to add in the one you commented on Game Over. XD  
Thank you so much, I feel very happy that you liked it, and thank you very much for the compliment. Aha and here is the second long chapter! You may have a lot to read, but it makes up to the 2-3 days delay until the next!

**Alexandria Volturi:  
**Ahaha, here is your update! I hope you like it~  
And I'll be looking forward to reading your next chapter!


	3. Chapter Three: Nobody's there

HEY GUYS, GUESS WHAT?

YOU GET TO SEE A BIT OF **AURA AND ROXAS!**

….so just keep reading...=D

* * *

**Chapter Three: Nobody's there**

Riku and I stood in front of the beige door, and with the new set of cards, he didn't know which to choose.

"Random pick?" I asked. He looked at the cards, and picked up a random one. He raised it up, and the door opened. We both walked through it, and in a matter of seconds we were in the world where I fell unconscious; Neverland.

Riku walked a little ahead, but I stopped. I know this world is made up from Riku's memories, but this world... As much as it was a world full of happiness, flying and never growing up, I was terrified of this world.

Or maybe I was terrified of had taken place _in_ this world. Hearing Sora say what he said here, and then me falling into a deep coma. I really thought I wasn't going to wake up, and it scared me. But I did what I had to do, because Riku really wanted it. And even if he wasn't right back then, he was still my friend, and he cared a lot about Kairi.

"Are you okay?" Riku turned around and asked. I looked at him, and I knew that he was probably thinking what I was thinking.

"I'd be lying if I told you I am," I said.

**Riku**

"You thinking about _that_?" he asked.

"I know it wasn't your fault I just," Marie looked at the floor. "I just wanted to help."

Riku mentally laughed to himself and turned his back to Marie, of course it was his fault. He started losing his conscious, and all he wanted to do was to save Kairi. He didn't realize what he did until Marie fell into her coma, and that's when the guilt and horror came in.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "It was really wrong of me to even do that."

"If you were Ansem I wouldn't have forgiven you," said Marie. "But I knew you were just confused, so you don't have to apologize."

Riku gave a melancholious chuckle, and Marie noticed. She walked up to Riku, and hugged him from behind. He stiffened a bit from the hug, as it came out if no where, but he softened after and held her arms.

"I should be sorry," she said. "I was such a horrible friend, not remembering anything about us."

Riku stared at the floor. "Marie..."

She let go of the hug, and stood beside him. "You're sorry, and I'm sorry. Let's start fresh, and finish this."

Riku nodded and stuck out his hand for a high five, and Marie happily returned it. They started walking through the ship, and as they did they fought some heartless along the way. Although he was getting use to it, it was nice having someone to watch his back. They both admitted that Marie wasn't as strong as Riku, but she was great with magic. Riku was quickly able to identify that, and it was very strategical to have someone on offensive and someone else on defensive.

Well there was that, and the fact that Riku got rid of the heartless before she could even attack. She didn't mind though, she kind of liked being the lazy one.

They came across another door with a glowing crown on it, and Riku took out his cards. Marie helped with picking out the cards as the door they had to open involved a lot of adding and subtracting, and Marie really enjoyed stuff like this. After much consideration with choosing which card, they got the door opened.

Riku entered first, and was almost stabbed. He blocked the attack, and looked at the man in front of him. It was captain Hook. Marie came in after, and was on her guard. She had never once met this villain, but she guessed he was just as bad as the rest.

"What are you doing?" Riku asked.

"I tried my best not to rip you a new one," the captain said. "Now I don't have anyone telling me not to, so prepare, boy!"

He ran to Riku, and tried stabbing him with his sword. Riku blocked him quickly, and didn't even have to use his blade to attack him. He punched the captain in the face, and he fell down. He quickly got up, and put up his fists.

"So it's a fistfight you want, eh?" the captain remarked. "Then put 'em up!"

the captain ran towards Riku, and punched him. Fortunately, he blocked it, and kicked the captain to the floor. Marie leaned against the wall, and merely watched as they duked it out. This was her first time meeting the captain, and so far he was nothing but a joke. She yawned as Riku landed another punch to the captain.

The captain was really beaten up, and one more punch from Riku made him fall permanently. The captain got up on one knee, and glared at Riku before he completely disappeared into a ball of darkness. A card appeared, and Riku grabbed it. Marie walked up to him, and they continued to walk around the ship.

Marie laughed when Riku told her that the captain was fighting with everything he had, but still ended up losing. She playfully punched Riku's side, and he ruffled her hair. She sighed out of annoyance, since it took her a while to fix her hair the last time he ruffled it. She mischievously smirked at Riku, and stuck out her leg. He tripped over it, and she started laughing while running away.

Riku got up, a little annoyed but still a good sport about it. He smiled, these were the times he missed with her when they were little. And he was glad they were coming back.

**Zexion, Lexaeus, and Vexen**

Vexen paced back and forth, while thinking about something. Lexaeus stood still and was silent like his usual self. Zexion was trying to figure out the scents, and when he did, he gasped.

"I have figured out the scents," he said. "One of them is Riku."

"Riku?" asked Vexen. "has he emerged from the realm of darkness?"

"His existence was once doubled in the darkness," Zexion said.

"That's why you mistook him for the superior," Vexen stated. "The dark power given to Riku facilitated his escape from it's realm."

"And the other?" asked Lexaeus.

Zexion gave a rather annoyed and at the same time uninterested look. Vexen only stared in interest as he gave that look.

"It's actually quite interesting," Zexion lied. "It is Marie. That little girl back at Radiant Garden, who was always so close to Ansem."

Vexen gasped, but Lexaeus remained calm. It was rather shocking for all of them—except for Lexaeus—that she was even alive. They were sure that she disappeared when the castle had been taken over by darkness. Lexaeus was rather calm about it, since she rarely talked to him while he was a somebody. Vexen was mildly shocked, he knew the girl since she was always around him when he was a somebody as well.

But the person who was rather most shocked, or most disturbed, was Zexion. When he was still a somebody, he knew Marie quite well, up to the point where they used to hang out and laugh. But in truth he never once liked her, and he still didn't either.

"I wonder why they've appeared here in Castle Oblivion," Zexion questioned.

"Simple," Vexen said. "Their existence resonate with that of another hero."

"Sora is in the castle?" asked Zexion.

"He arrived earlier," Vexen stated. "Marluxia is already using Namine's unique powers to meddle with Sora's heart."

"Without even bothering to consult us," Zexion added.

"It seems he desperately wants the Keyblade master for himself," Vexen stated. "Sora's is not such an interesting existence. The entities that hold true value—are Riku and Marie."

"Riku I can understand, but how is Marie involved in this?" Zexion asked.

"It makes sense," Vexen said. "Since you were able to sense Kingdom Hearts in Aura, it should be pretty obvious who's nobody she is."

Zexion placed a finger on his chin. "I see. So.. Aura is Marie's nobody."

"Don't you get it?" Vexen said. "If we can get Aura to merge with Marie, then the power of Kingdom hearts is united. I've been looking into it, and in order for us to actually become whole, we need the real power of Kingdom Hearts, in other words, the united power of Aura and Marie."

"Do you think the superior knows about that?" asked Zexion.

"If he doesn't," Vexen smirked. "Then he'll be grateful that we told him."

"It's quite a shame," Zexion laughed bitterly. "I was actually fond of Aura. But then again, what would I know? I have no heart."

**Aura**

Aura shivered, and raised her eyebrow. She looked around her room, and noticed her window wasn't open. She got up from her bed and walked out of the room, and instantly, she bumped into Roxas.

"Watch where you're going, spike," she retorted, fixing her cloak.

"And yet again, you're angry because?" he asked, quite used to Aura's random mood swings.

She glared at him for a moment, but let it go. "My window wasn't opened, yet I shivered out of nowhere."

"Huh," he replied. "Someone was talking about you."

"Oh Roxas," Aura swooned, grabbing on to Roxas' arm. "You're finally telling everyone I'm better than you at everything!"

Roxas blushed lightly at Aura's sudden action, but then scoffed and pulled away. "As if."

**Marie**

we made it out of Neverland, and we were back into the same old white walled room with the same beige door. I was actually out of breath from the running I did from Riku, since I tripped him and all. I never really knew I could run that fast, but I guess it was from all that traveling I did with Sora.

"You run pretty fast," Riku noticed. "You were pretty slow when we were little."

"well no duh," I said. "I never liked running."

"But now you have to," he said, in a slightly sad tone. I understood what he meant, as we had to run out of necessity. I I was blissfully unaware of all of this. I wish I never knew about my powers, and I wish I never got kidnapped. But alas, everything happens for a reason, and I can't complain.

I looked at the beige door, and Riku and I began to walk to it. He took out his cards again, and looked at me. "Random pick?"

I nodded, and he randomly picked out another card, and raised it up to the door. It opened, and we walked through. It took me a while to figure out what the world I was in called, but I managed to figure it out. The world we stepped into was Traverse Town.

I haven't been in this world for a while, so it felt really good to be back. As with the other worlds, they either held a very good or bad memory. But this this case, this world held a very good one. This world was where Sora told me he really did care about me.

"Let's look around," Riku suggested, and I nodded. As we walked, I felt more happier. Traverse Town was sort of like a haven. Leon, Aerith, Yuffie, and of course Cid were all here, and they helped us most of the times. I was really grateful for their help, and I hope that maybe I can see them regardless of the worlds being disconnected and isolated from each other.

I looked around the Town, and there wasn't anyone here. It was a little sad, but from what Ansem said, he couldn't see anyone since his heart was empty. But, I don't believe that his heart is empty. He was able to see, talk and walk with me, and I'm light.

"Here's another door with the same crown on it," Riku stated. He took out the cards, and we did added and took some cards out. The door opened, and we walked through. It was the town square, and we walked to the center. It was very quite, almost too quite and I really wasn't liking it.

**Riku**

Riku looked around the area, and was feeling a rather odd and suspicious vibe from it. He and Marie were a little far from each other, and he walked towards her. As soon as he got near her, a giant purple heartless armor appeared behind him, and they both quickly got out their blades.

As usual, Riku ran straight towards the heartless, and started attacking it constantly. Marie focused her attacks by using her spells, and she started casting a mixture of Ruby and Diamond Heart. Riku had suddenly become off his game, and the armor slapped him hard from the back, causing him to fall to his knees.

Marie saw this, and was about to heal, but then Riku started changing into a different form. He changed outfits and his new outfit was the outfit he wore while possessed by Ansem the seeker of darkness. He wore a blue skin tight suit with the heartless emblem, and a white skirt that was teared at the edges.

Riku looked at his outfit, and he felt the power of darkness in him. Marie ran up to him, and examined his new outfit. She was able to sense the darkness in him as well, but it didn't feel threatening. Riku held his blade, and ran towards the armor heartless. He gave one final, dark attack that was incredibly powerful. The heartless began to shake all of a sudden, and a pink heart escaped it's body.

Riku returned to normal, and looked at his hands. He was able to smell the darkness even more, and it was sickening. Marie smiled, and gave him a reassuring look. "I think if you use that power in small dosages, it won't consume you."

Riku nodded, and gave a small smile. He noticed something about the recent fights, they were a lot easier to fight, and he realized that is was due to the fact that he wasn't fighting alone. He looked at Marie, and she was stretching out her legs. He didn't notice before, but she hadn't talked about Sora at all, and in truth, it didn't bother him. But he started to get curious about it, and he wanted to find it. But how to ask without her getting emotional is the hard part.

"Riku, let's go!" he heard her say. He looked, and she was beside the next door. He shook his head to get rid of his thoughts, and followed Marie through the next door.

**Marie**

We walked through the door, and we were back to the white walled room with the beige door. Riku walked ahead, but he immediately stopped, and I bumped into him. "You have really got to stop doing that!"

I back up, and rubbed my nose. I looked at him, and he had a cautious look on his face. I looked ahead of him, and a man with long blonde hair and green eyes appeared. My eyes widened, because I knew this guy, and his name was at the tip of my tongue.

"I take it you're Riku," he said. His voice was starting to make me remember more. "And it's been some time, Marie."

I gasped, his voice suddenly brought back more memories. I started to remember more people, people like Lea...Isa...Aeleus...Dilan. And I remember Braig, and Even...Even! That's who this man is. Even! But I couldn't move, I could make my mouth move or anything, I felt _frozen._

"It seems like you are remembering more about your past," he said. "Although I should tell you, I am not the same person you once knew."

"What do you mean?" Riku asked. "Are you with Ansem?"

"I guess that's half correct," Even said. "Let us say that he is not the Ansem with which you are familiar."

"He is Ansem and he is not Ansem," he continued. "Perhaps a "nobody" best conveys the idea."

"I hate riddles," Riku said.

Even chuckled. "He belongs to neither the light nor the dark but walks the twilight between."

Riku gasped really lightly, and Even chuckled a little more. I still couldn't move, my feelings and memories were too much to comprehend that I was just standing there with a frightened yet confused look on my face.

"You too, Riku," he continued. "You stand in between the light and the darkness. We have much in common."

"Maybe," Riku said. "There really is darkness left inside me."

"But I don't care!" he yelled. "It's my enemy! And you will be for smellin' like it!"

Even laughed, and looked straight at Riku. "If it's a fight you want then very well. I shall take you on!"

all of a sudden, Riku and Even disappeared into a ball of darkness, and it stood there in the middle. Little sparks came out if it, and all I could hear were sword clashing and Riku's grunts. I fell to the floor very slowly, and tried collecting the memories I received. I couldn't understand what was going on because first off, Even still looked like how he did when I was younger, and he didn't look like he aged.

I slowly began to move my legs, and then my hands. I hated this feeling, the feeling of being so weak and useless. I couldn't run after Riku and now he's fighting alone, and I was just standing out here. I sighed and got myself up from the floor, I looked at the ball, and decided to see I could get myself in there.

I walked slowly to it, and clutched my chest as I got closer. I was so scared for some reason, but I think it's because of this whole Even business. If he's still alive, then...

...Does that mean Ienzo's alive too?

I shook my head, I don't even want to think about him. I was face-to-face with the ball of darkness, and I slowly moved my hand towards it.

**Riku**

Riku and Vexen were very into the fight, and when Riku was almost close to defeating him, Vexen called them both out of the darkness.

The ball burst into little pieces of dark specks, and Marie immediately ran away from it. Riku and Vexen popped out of it, and they continued to fight. Marie wasn't as frozen as before, but still in shock every time she saw Vexen, or Even as she remembers. She stayed in the same spot, and merely watched as Vexen and Riku battled it out.

"Coursing through you," Vexen said. "There is a darkness of formidable power growing!"

"All this fighting has provided me with invaluable data!" he exclaimed.

Riku jumped away from the battle, and stood there in shock. Vexen waved his hand at Riku, and thanked him for the data. He looked at Marie, and laughed really loudly. "Try not to be so flustered the next time we meet."

He looked at her while disappearing in his portal. "That is, if I even want to see you."

He disappeared in his portal, and Marie leaned against the wall and let out a long and heavy breath. Riku snarled at the man's trick, but quickly let it go as he had someone else to attend to. He walked over to Marie, and leaned against the wall next to her. He looked at her from the side, and she was still distraught and frustrated.

"Do you know him?" he asked, trying to find a way to calm her down.

"His name is Even," she replied softly. "I think he was a helper to Ansem."

Riku gave Marie an odd look, wondering if she was referring to the Ansem they both knew. She looked at him and noticed his facial expression, she knew that he probably didn't know about Ansem, so she told him.

She told him everything that she knew, including the times she had with the many people there. She told him _her_ story.

* * *

This chapter is short, short short! Well not that short, but shorter than the last. I need to have a pattern I guess. One long chapter, one short chapter, one long, one short, etc.

Anywho, you got to see a little of AuraxRoxas there. XD Or as I'd like to call it, Auxas, or Rora. XDXDXDXD.

Anyhow, Marie encountered Vexen! Or as she remembers him, Even! It's only a matter of time before she meets Lexaeus and...ZEXION!

**Thank you:**  
Ruciro Katsura  
Crescentrax  
A-Prayer-4-da-Damned  
-toon  
burry and bunny  
warrior of six blades

**For placing this story in your favorites! Much love!**

**Thank you:**  
Ruciro Katsura  
burry and bunny  
Crescentrax

**For placing this story in your story alert list! Much love!**

**Alexandria Volturi:**  
You're welcome!  
And, I think for KH2 I won't have another OC. For KH3 I might need one since it's the last game Sqeenix and Disney are going to produce.

**Lele-the-Greek-Geek:**  
No he isn't. =D  
I'll make a funny yet cute reunion for them. Just gotta get through to more stories to get to that.  
And yuss, Friendship is better than plot. XD

I know, it's exactly like Canadian high schools now! -looks at hideous uniform I had to wear in high school- NOOOOOOO!  
But I seriously cannot wait what happens to Ally and Bianca! And yes, Fitz throughout the season was a really mysterious and interesting character. I really hope, though I doubt it, he comes back.

Yea, he was walking around the mall, and we crossed paths. My sister started freaking out because she was like "OMGFGFGFJ WE LOCKED EYES!" and stuff. Haha, yea I'm a little slow with all that, eh.  
And thank you!

**Kurai-Darkness:**  
Awe, thank you!  
Aura is the name she chose herself, but if you wanted to know her X name or whatever they do at orgy 13, it's Merixa. Sounds ugly, doesn't it? That's why she chose Aura.  
Xion is an important character in the game, so I can't leave her out. She becomes close with Aura.  
Yes, it'll be interesting. I too cannot wait for her reaction. Tee-hee

**pokemonsora01:**  
I think by having Sora in your penname, you're somehow connected to Marie. XD joking.  
But maybe they're meet, but if they do I assure you it won't be bittersweet. Because I'm cruel and like to keep everything filled with suspense and drama. DX

**sajere1:**  
I know...D'X  
But I get to see family so...Yayyyyyyyy!  
And yes, you are fangirling. XD but that's because Zexion is awesome.  
I don't think Marie can hear you, she's too busy being depressed about that kiss. DX  
If you can guess give them to meeee! SWIRL3Y needs a new pair of everything!

**warrior of six blades:**  
Thank you so much!  
I hope you like this chapter, it's not as long, but the next one will be.

**an1995616:**  
I think so too, but as for 359 ½ I'll have to leave during that, which is sad for me because I love Jesse McCartne—I mean Roxas!  
Yes it happens during the same time almost, Axel gets sent to leave on a mission to the castle, and that's when Xion comes in.

**1st class Solider Girl13:**  
Thank you! And here is the next chapter.

**Sayonara Yasashii Akumu:**  
I do as well, and I think it will be a triangle, as it will probably be plot for KH2.  
But that's all being planned out still, so I'm not sure. And haha, triangle with a little stick. XD  
And yea, he does go through a lot more. I think if I didn't write a story with MariexSora, I would have definitely gone with MariexRiku. They could make a cute couple.

**xLiesOfLovex:**  
Ahaha, here is the next chapter you have been waiting for!  
And that's good for Sora, but I'll steal them soon. -evil laugh-

**KingdomHeartsRemixXx:**  
Yes he does, and I'm glad you like the pairing.  
I wouldn't go as far as despise, but there's something about Kairi that doesn't sit well with me, but I still like her. I LOVE her voice actress, Hayden, too! Ah, well, when I figure what I don't like about Kairi I'll let you know. XD  
Ahaha, and thanks! And to answer your question, Marie's nobody is paired with Roxas, but it's gonna be EXTREMELY complicated for the both of them.

**burry and bunny:**  
Aw, thank you so much!  
I'm glad you like Marie, I try my best not to make her Mary-sue.  
And yes, I will do a KH2 story, and a KH3(after it comes out) story.

**KillerKunoichi94:**  
Yep, I saw him. He was pretty chills in the mall, unlike other stuck up celebrities.  
And I don't know when it comes out in America, but in Canada is premieres on October 8th. So I hope it comes out that day for you as well.  
And thank you! I'm glad you like Game Over, and I hope you like the future stories I have coming out.


	4. Chapter Four: Discomfort

I realized something, when KH3 comes out, will it be for XBOX 360 _and_ PS3? Or will it just be for PS3? Cause if it's for PS3, I'm so buying one!

**-Chucks Xbox 360 out the window-**

Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

**Chapter Four: Discomfort**

I was sitting down on the white floor staring at nothing, really. I was concentrated on something else, and it was about my time at Hollow Bastion. I told Riku everything that happened to me, well everything that I could remember at least. He suggested that we take a little break, and I didn't refuse, because I was still a little shaken from what had happened with him and Even.

I was a little annoyed that I couldn't remember everything, if I had, maybe I could be able to do more than I already have. Nothing was making sense, but if it's one thing I've learned while traveling with Sora, it's that nothing really ever makes sense. I looked to my right, and Riku was sitting there probably thinking about something else, most likely about everything that was related to the imposter Ansem.

That was another thing I was overly concerned about, who was that imposture, and why the hell is he using Ansy's name? The next time I see that man, I'll ask him. And I'll get my answer too.

"Are you ready to go?" I heard Riku ask.

"Yup," I said as I got up.

**Riku**

Riku and Marie walked to the beige door, and along the way he thought about the interesting story that Marie told him. Initially, he thought she was lost forever. But when he found out that she lingered away from her kidnapper, a wave of relief hit him. He felt incredibly happy that she was safe, and surrounded by people who would care for her just as much as the people back home.

He also laughed at the stories her and two friends, Lea and Isa, did while they were together. And he felt sad when she told him about losing her friend that was very much like a sister named Aqua. Or how she found out that Ansem was no where to be found after Hollow Bastion was taken over, he felt bad now that she told him that Hollow Bastion was her home for ten years. He always thought of it as worst place to be in, but after hearing Marie talk of how great it was, he began to like it, and wished he could see it in it's full beauty.

They made it to the beige door, and Riku looked at his cards. Only two remained, and he picked one randomly and raised it in the air. The door began to open, and as usual, light appeared and they both walked through the door.

They both immediately recognized the world as Agrabah, and Marie had suddenly blushed. She remembered when she had to get on carpet, and in order to do so, she had to sit on Sora's lap. Riku raised his eyebrow, but decided not to ask. Riku then remembered that he wanted to ask Marie why she hasn't talked about Sora, and figured now would be the perfect opportunity.

"Can I ask you a question?" he asked, looking a little nervous. He didn't know why he felt nervous, maybe it was because Marie had someone to love. The only person he could really love had already chosen someone else. His best friend, Sora.

"What is it?" she asked, still walking and looking ahead.

"...Why haven't you talked about Sora?" he asked, suddenly feeling a lump in his throat. "I mean, you like him, so why aren't you talking about him?"

Marie stopped, and turned around to face Riku. Due to him thinking, Riku begun to slow down, thus making her ahead of him. She looked at Riku for a while, but then smiled. She found it cute that Riku was asking questions about Sora, but when he brought up his name she felt a bit sad on the inside. So far, she had no luck in finding Sora, but she still didn't give up hope. She didn't know whether it was woman's intuition, or if their hearts are connected, but she felt like Sora was always near. She also began to think of Riku, even if she couldn't find Sora she was still with her best friend and spending time with him. That in itself is a great reward for returning the worlds back to normal.

"Of course I miss him," she replied. "But talking about him won't bring him to me."

She walked closer to Riku, and grabbed his hands and placed them in her's. "Plus, I'm here with another person that I care about. You're not trying to get rid of me, are you?"

Riku chucked, and then smirked. "No, of course not. I guess I was just curious."

"Don't worry," Marie assured. "We'll meet up with him, I'm sure."

Riku nodded, and Marie began to pull him further into Agrabah. While being the petite little girl that she is, she struggled to pull Riku. He laughed at this, and gave a warm smile. Although not completely answering his question, he was happy about one thing.

Marie said that she was with someone she also cared about, and didn't use the word 'friend.' He could very well take like she meant to say friend, but he was going to slip into denial and think that she meant something more. Maybe there was a chance to love someone after all.

**Marie**

Riku finally started moving, and we were off to find the next door. One thing I really noticed about these worlds were how lonely they were with no one around, of course, I wasn't alone. I had Riku with me, and I plenty happy about that. I was beginning to understand more and more of what Riku had to go through, he must have been incredibly lonely throughout his journey.

Sora and I probably made it worse when we couldn't agree with each other, but for that part Riku was already drifting into the darkness. I don't think there's much we could have done anyway, but still... It hurt to know that he's gone through so much alone.

I rubbed my eyes out of tiredness, it's been a while since I've gotten a long and relaxing rest, and it was starting to take effect. The break I previously had wasn't enough, and I didn't want to continue on just yet. Nonetheless, I continued my walk, and we soon found a door. Riku took out his cards, and he began to shuffle through them. He started adding in the necessary cards, and when he did the door began to open. A bright light appeared, and Riku and I squinted our eyes a bit. We walked through the door, and the next room was pure darkness, no light, no nothing. Everywhere that I looked was full of blackness, and it felt awful.

"It's pure darkness in here," Riku stated the obvious.

"It's a little unnerving," I confessed. It was pitch black everywhere, and I wasn't used to it. I took a deep breath, as I felt an anxiety attack coming up. I looked to my right, and I couldn't see Riku _at all._ I knew he was there, but it was so black that I couldn't see him, so I reached for his hand.

**Riku**

Riku felt a small hand touch his, and for a moment he tensed up, but then he heard Marie's voice. "Riku, can you hold my hand until we get out of this darkness?"

Riku smirked, and quite widely. Darkness was his enemy, yes. But he was pretty thankful for this moment, _just_ for this moment though. He held her hand tightly, and he started to lead the way. Marie stayed as close to Riku as possible and her anxiety slowly began to calm down. They walked forward, or at least that's what it seemed like for them, and they hadn't come across any heartless. Riku played the fearless one, but he would be caught off guard if a heartless attacked them out of no where, and he didn't like that. He and Marie kept quiet, and listened to their surroundings should a heartless attack them. If it made noise they would know, and they would be prepared for it.

As suspected by Riku, they began to hear a noise, and he lead Marie closer to him. They stopped and paid close attention to the noise. It was really hard to tell where it was coming from, because when it made noise it echoed all over the area. Riku took out his Keyblade, Soul Eater, and positioned himself. Marie was able to hear his blade being drawn, and she did the same. As soon as she took it out, however, a heartless had slapped her back, and she stumbled a bit.

Riku was able to hear the noise, and attacked it. As soon as he did, the room filled with bright light, temporarily blinding both Riku and Marie. The heartless, a Darkball, attacked both Riku and Marie in their blinded state. Marie fell down, and struggled to get up while focusing her eyes, but Riku was able to focus, and attacked the heartless. Riku had gone through heartless much worse than the Darkball, so defeating it was easy. He ran towards it, and attacked it's backside, and then back flipped to attack it again. Marie was finally able to focus, and got up to see Riku fighting the heartless. She pointed her Keyblade at the heartless, and cast Heart Light on it. Right after Riku attacked it again, the spell hit the heartless, and he fell. His heart disappearing into wherever it went.

Riku sighed, and walked back to Marie. They looked around the room, and since there was light they were able to see the door. They quickly ran to the door, for fear of the room going black and being attacked by a heartless again. When they reached the door Riku took out his cards, and raised whatever cards he had to, as he clearly didn't want to stay here any longer. The door had a silver crown on it, so they both knew they were almost done with this world. Riku got it opened, and they walked through it.

**Marie**

As soon as we walked through the door, we saw that the door was floating above the floor. Luckily, the distance between the door and the floor wasn't that far, but my feet hurt a bit after jumping down, since it was a concrete floor. Not to mention that I'm getting even more tired by the minute, I really hope we find a quiet place where I can take a long nap.

We stood here for a while, and then Riku looked up. A giant red genie popped out of no where, and fire started sprouting everywhere. I looked at the genie, and I remembered back when I was traveling with Sora Jafar wished to be a genie. Was this how he looked? I turned my attention to Riku, and he was ready to fight.

"Is that Jafar?" I asked, also taking out my Keyblade.

"Yeah, he wished himself to be a genie," Riku replied. "This is the result."

Alright, now I know. Riku and I stood back to back, and we watched as Jafar began to attack. We saw a small red parrot flying around with a black lamp, and Riku immediately began to attack it. I back him up by distracting Jafar, and I attacked him with spells. You couldn't really tell if Jafar was in a right state of mind, or if he just went crazy. He wasn't saying anything, and I figured that yes, he has gone insane.

I looked over to Riku, and he was having a rather easy time attacking that bird. Jafar fired another fiery spell, and I deflected it with one of my own spells, Diamond Heart. I ran around, and Jafar kept missing me while he attacked. I figured it was because I looked so small in his eyes. I was almost hit by one of his attacks, but then he started to convulse.

I looked at Riku, and the bird he was attacking was laying unconscious on the floor. I looked at Riku's hand, and he had the lamp in it. He raised it up, and then Jafar started shouting and trying his hardest not to return to the lamp. But in the end it failed, and he was slipping right back into his tiny home.

I walked up to Riku, and we both looked at the lamp. He shrugged, and then tossed the Lamp into the lava. My eyes widened in shock, and I looked at the lamp fall into the lava.

"You sure that's okay?" I asked.

"Meh," he replied. He started walking towards the door that stood before us, and I walked after him.

We walked through the door, and we were back into the white room. As Riku kept walking, I started slowing down. A sudden wave of dizziness hit me, and my eyes were burning from lack of sleep. I stopped halfway, and Riku turned around. He gave me a questioning look, and I sat on the floor.

"I'm sorry, but I _got_ to take a nap," I said, lying on the floor and closing my eyes.

**Zexion and Lexaeus**

Zexion stood in the middle of his strategy room, and was in deep thought as always. Lexaeus appeared in the room, and walked towards Zexion. "What is the report on Sora?"

"Namine is using her power to rearrange his memories as we speak," he replied. "Marluxia is well on his way of obtaining his puppet. Sora would prove useful to the Organization but Marluxia and Larxene's actions leave me uneasy."

"Axel as well," Lexaeus reminded. "Who knows what he is thinking.."

"Vexen has everything taken care of," Zexion stated. "His replica is soon to be completed."

"But Vexen hates Marluxia," Lexaeus reminded. "It'll be a mess."

Zexion smirked. "Let Vexen clean up his mess."

Lexaeus sighed, and looked down as he began to think. Zexion continued to smirk, but it quickly disappeared as he began to think of Marie. He wondered why Vexen didn't fight Marie, a replica of her could very well stir up more fun. But then again, He and Vexen were better off not seeing another of her anyway. When Vexen came into the room confirming of the data he obtained, he told Zexion of how Marie looked like now. It was never his style to tease anyone, but Vexen found it the perfect opportunity to make fun of Zexion. Vexen told him that if he hadn't been so cruel to her she might have been with them at the moment. And their goal to becoming whole could have gone so much quicker.

Zexion said nothing, and only glared at the blonde. Although, curiosity did get Zexion's attention, as he wanted to see how Marie looked like.

**Riku**

Riku sat down beside Marie, and watched as she slept. He felt weird just seeing her lay in the middle of the room, so he carried her to a small corner instead. When she first told him she needed a nap, he couldn't help but laugh out loud. Marie was good at making people laugh through her weird antics, but that was something people really enjoyed about her, including himself.

He kept looking at her, and was amazed at how peaceful she looked while sleeping. After all the stuff that she had to find out, and the journey she had gone through, he was in shock how she didn't struggle in her sleep, or have nightmares. But Marie was never one to worry too much about anything, and if she did, she would always hide it. She was like this when she was little, and Riku noticed she hadn't changed much in that department.

Time was passing by, and although Riku wanted Marie to get her rest, he was also eager to press on. He looked at the door, and then at Marie. It was going to be tricky, and Marie _might_ get angry, but he had no choice. I bent down on one knee, and picked up Marie. He flung her arms around his neck, and held onto her legs as he got up on his feet. She was still sleeping soundly while she was on his back, and he sighed out of relief that he didn't wake her up.

He walked towards the door, and struggled to get his card. He bucked Marie higher, and was able to get his card. The next part was a little tricky, he needed to raise his card so the door could open, but he was holding onto Marie's legs. So he quickly let go of Marie's right leg and raised his card, the door opened, and he grabbed onto her leg before she fell of or anything. He entered through the door, and he was in Monstro. He looked around, and didn't spot any heartless. He began to walk around looking for the next door, and since there were barely any heartless it was much easier to move around without being cautious.

As Riku continued to walk, Marie began to get heavier. And it was a sign for him to wake her up, he found a secluded area and placed her down. He rubbed his back due to carrying Marie, and then started to shake her awake.

"Hey, Marie. Wake up," he said, hoping she won't make a fuss when she wakes up.

**Marie**

For a moment, I heard Sora's voice. It kept saying the same thing over and over again though, like please wake up, Marie. I didn't know why he was saying that, but then I felt my eyes flutter, and I realized I was sleeping.

Sora's voice had suddenly changed to Riku's, and as I opened my eyes more I began to see Riku. I got up, and rubbed my eyes. Well, that was a good sleep, I feel good as new! I looked around, and noticed we were in Monstro. But how was that possible? I looked at Riku and he just smiled back at me, and then I realized, did he carry me here?

"Did you carry me?" I asked in a stern voice.

"What? No hello?" he replied, and I lightly punched his arm. "Fine, yes. I carried you on my back here. I didn't want to wait."

"You're as impatient as ever," I said. I looked around, and then I got up. "Thank you for carrying me here. I hope I wasn't too much trouble."

"Not really," he replied, which made me sigh out of relief. "Just that you weigh like wale."

I glared at him, and pushed him out of the way. He stumbled as he laughed, and came towards me to give me a hug. "I'm just joking."

It was a little weird that Riku was the one giving me a hug, but I didn't mind. This trust bridge is getting sturdier by the minute, and I was happy to know that I'm trusting Riku more and more. I returned the hug, and then we both separated.

"Alright, let's continue on," I said. "You got my back?"

"Of course," Riku replied. "You got mine?"

"Definitely," I replied.

We left the area we were in, and walked to find the nearest door. Riku and I kept pushing and play fighting with each other, and it definitely made me feel like I was never kidnapped. I was so afraid that our friendship wouldn't be the same after as it was before, but look at us. It's as if nothing has ever happened, like how he fought against us, or how he was consumed by the darkness. Or even how I fell unconscious. I'm so thankful for this, a chance to be with my friend who I've missed so incredibly much.

Well, separating from my thoughts, we managed to find the door with the silver crown on it. We walked up to it, and Riku took out his cards. He added some together, and then had to add another one. When it opened, we walked through.

The room we walked into was the same one where we fought that heartless to save Pinocchio . The only difference was that Pinocchio wasn't there, yet the heartless we defeated was. Parasite cage as I remember it, flung one of his tentacles at us. Riku deflected the attack with his blade, and ran straight for it. I was very much on the defensive as I kept firing spells and healing Riku.

Although something was off. Riku kept fighting and attaching it repeatedly, and it would sprout out water on Riku. I looked at the floor, and I noticed it was on water. Thunder wouldn't quite do to harm it, and I didn't have an upgraded version of it. I attacked it with my spells, and although they were effective, they didn't do anything to harm him enough. Riku looked like he was having a hard time with the parasite cage splashing water on him, but he still landed attacks on it.

_I have unlocked a power for you, it is called Topaz Heart. Use it well._

Stella? I tried calling out for her, but I didn't get a response. I guess the connection was lost again, but I did as she told me, and I was ready to use the spell. I raised my Keyblade in the air, and I closed my eyes. I surge of electrical power filled me, and I smiled. It was about time I got a thunder spell.

"Topaz Heart!" I shouted. A giant yellow-looking heart appeared around the heartless, and sparks of thunder hit it. Since he was using water to splash Riku, the thunder sparked his tentacles the most, and they were pretty much immobile and useless. Riku attacked him one last time, and the heartless went down rather easily.**[1]**

Riku walked up to where I was, and he had a irritated look on his face. I didn't know why he was being irritated, if anything he should be happy he defeated that heartless. "Why do you look irritated?" I asked.

"These fights all seem easy," he said in a low, suspicious voice.

"Maybe it's getting easier to overcome the darkness," I replied. He placed a finger in his chin, and thought for a moment. I will admit that most of the fights were easy, but I think it's because Riku is getting better overcoming the darkness. He _is_ the one defeating all of them after all, I'm just helping him by casting spells and healing.

"Well, I guess I can't complain," he said. "But I wanted a challenge."

"Ah, you'll get one," I said, very much like how Donald talks. I had to admit that I missed Donald and Goofy as well, since we all traveled together. I sighed very lightly, and Riku and I walked to the exit that appeared after the fight. As we walked through the door, Riku gasped out of confusion. I looked to where he was looking, and I gasped too.

There was another Riku walking towards us, and looked rather menacing.

I held onto Riku, so that if anything happens he doesn't do anything stupid. The fake Riku kept walking towards us, and just smirked. Riku stood beside me in total shock and disbelief, and I was on my guard. If this fake attacks, I won't hesitate to respond.

"What are you suppose to be?" Riku asked, still in shock.

"I'm an exact replica of you that Vexen made from your data," he replied.

"Vexen?" I asked. "Don't you mean Even?"

"If you feel like calling him that, then sure," he responded. "But I don't think he'll like it very much if you did."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "What's going on!"

"I don't like getting into much detail about that," he responded. "you'll have to ask him yourself."

"So Vexen made a fake?" I heard Riku ask, and totally interrupting me. I kept quiet after that, as I actually _do_ want to ask Even about it.

"I'm not a fake!" the fake responded. "It doesn't matter if you're real! You're not better! We have the same body and abilities, and there's only one easy way to tell us apart."

Riku gave him a questioning look, and I was still on my guard. I had my Keyblade ready to come out, and I was more than ready to rip this fake a new one.

"Unlike you, I fear nothing," the fake Riku told us. Riku's eye twitched slightly, and I held tighter on to his arm. Riku moved a bit forward and looked at the fake.

"You calling me a coward?" Riku said, trying to release from my hand. The fake smirked and told Riku that he was afraid of the dark, that the darkness inside of him frightened him. Riku growled, trying not to let this imposter get to him. But then he spoke again saying that he embraced it, which made him different from Riku. He then changed into Riku's dark form, and took out his Keyblade, which of course was the same as Riku's. He took his position and smirked at us.

"I can do whatever I want," he said. "And I'll wipe the floor with you!"

The fake Riku, or rather, the replica started running towards us. He lifted his blade, and aimed to attack us. I took out my Keyblade right in time to deflect the attack, and with the power of light I was able to send him flying a few steps back. I didn't look at Riku, because I was too focused on trying to find out why Even wanted to get Riku.

I ran to the replica, and my blade clashed against his. I looked him straight in the eye, and glared. "Why is Even so intent on getting to Riku?" I asked.

"Like I said," he replied, pushing my blade away. "Why don't you ask him **yourself!**"

The replica pushed my blade away, and I stumbled back a few steps. I quickly regained my position, and gripped my blade even tighter. I heard footsteps behind me, and Riku started walking towards me. He took out his blade, and looked at me. "Don't worry, I've got your back," he reminded.

I nodded, and we both stood side by side as we glared at the replica. Riku ran towards him and attacked him, but the replica blocked the attack. I ran afterward and attacked him, and he blocked the attack as well. Riku punched him from behind, and he started tipping forward. I know I'm not the best at fighting with my hands and feet, but I decided to kick him as he started falling forward. He staggered backwards, and Riku slashed him with his Keyblade.

The replica got up, and started running towards me. He raised his blade and attacked, but I blocked it just in time. I kicked him again, and he withdrew from the battle.

"You running away?" Riku asked. "What happened to wiping the floor with me?"

The replica scoffed, and then smirked. "I'll get stronger and stronger, this won't be the last time. The next time you will be finished!"

Riku ran towards the replica and attacked him, but a burst of darkness surrounded the replica and sent Riku flying backwards. I ran to his side, and held onto him as he sat up. The replica laughed loudly, and smirked after. "It's _nice_ having darkness on my side," he said, still laughing a bit.

"You're _so_ missing out," he smirked. "How can you be scared of something so thrilling?"

"Will you shut up!" I shouted. "You may think darkness is all sunshine and flowers, but when it swallows you whole you'll wish you never had it!"

"And what?" he replied. "You think light is better? You know, you talk big for someone who's still trying to control her powers."

I growled lightly, and tried really hard not to run and attack him. In a sense he was right, and it brought me down a bit, but I wasn't going to let him bask in the fact that I was down. "And you're talking big for someone who almost got beat and is about to run, so I really don't think you have anything to say to me."

The replica only laughed, and pointed his blade to the both of us. "I'll come back stronger, and I'll wipe the floor with _both_ of you!"

He started running away, and Riku quickly got up and call him back. He stopped, and scoffed angrily. I walked up to him, and I heard him mumbling about being a coward. I rubbed his back, and he looked at me. We both sighed out of desperation, but as always, we continued on with out journey. Riku looked frustrated, and a little down, while I was drawing blanks. I didn't know what to think as I had so many things to think about, and all I really wanted to do was go home now. I was getting tired mentally, and I wasn't liking it.

**Zexion, Lexaeus and Vexen**

Zexion, Lexaeus, and Vexen all stood still until a certain young boy entered the room. Riku, or rather, the replica came into the room smirking and laughing lightly.

"So how was the real thing?" Vexen asked.

"Spineless," he replied. "I'll be better than him in no time."

Zexion gave out a laugh. "And how was fighting Marie like?"

"The girl?" he asked. "I could care less, but she doesn't let anything get past her. She's incredibly protective of him, and it's sad that she needs motivation to actually fight."

Vexen placed a finger in his chin, taking in the information the replica told him. "Well in any case, how would you like to meet the person she cares for the most? He's also considered a hero."

"You mean Sora," the replica stated. "I hear he's in the castle. Do you want me to get rid of him?"

"Hmm," Vexen thought. "Yes."

The replica smirked, and gave a menacing look to the three men. "No worries. Riku was nothing, and neither will Sora. They're no match for me."

"And how about Marie?" asked Zexion.

"When I get rid of Riku and Sora, she'll be motivated to come at me," the replica replied. "Then I'll be able to exercise my powers a bit."

"I wouldn't be so cocky about her," Vexen said. "She has the power of Kingdom Hearts, and we need her alive. So play with her all you want, but in the end you won't be the one to kill her. She's rather important despite our opinions on her."

**Riku**

Riku and Marie ran to the next white-walled room hoping to see the fake again. Riku shouted for him to come out, but instead of meeting him, Ansem came out instead. "Fake wouldn't be the right word," he said.

"He's just a copy!" Riku shouted at Ansem. Although they had met before, Marie was still uncomfortable seeing Ansem. Rage and anger filled her when she saw him, but she knew that she had to refrain from attacking him. He knew something that Riku didn't, and as much as she hated him she had to let him live so Riku could find out about the supposed "truth".

"He's an example of what you should be," Ansem said. "He accepts darkness, just like you once did."

Riku growled, but Ansem continued. "Maybe you are the one being fake? Pretending to have no fear."

"How am I afraid of the dark?" Riku asked.

"You fight the darkness because it is what frightens you," Ansem answered.

Riku grew angry, and ran towards Ansem. He jumped and raised his blade towards Ansem. He, however, was pushed back by the darkness from Ansem. He landed in the ground, and merely glared at Ansem. He threw a couple of cards to Riku, and he caught them. Ansem looked at Marie, and she glared back. What he said next bothered Riku greatly.

"You girl," he said. "Light doesn't have to prevent you from turning to the darkness. You could very well turn to the darkness just like how Riku did, and Sora wouldn't worry. He'll always have that princess of light."

Marie's face became gloomy, and she only stared at Ansem while being hurt and in shock. He disappeared as usual, and Riku looked at Marie. He was unable to say anything, for fear of making her even more upset. He just stood beside her, and rubbed her back just how she did when he was feeling down.

If it were any other thing that Ansem talked about, like about Ansem or Aqua, she wouldn't let it bring her down. Mainly because she knew them very well, but Sora was new to her, so she didn't know him as well as Kairi did. It was a sensitive topic for Marie, but she still maintained her cool about it. Sora and Kairi had a great relationship together, and she wasn't jealous about it. She was quite happy that everyone was friends with each other, that way no one would be left out. But now that Ansem brought it up, it would remain there, and probably haunt her.

* * *

**[1] **Riku's side of the game is so ridiculously easy, it makes me sad. I beat the game on proud mode and it was still easy, I think they wanted to make Riku awesome or something, but it was so boring to play it like that. D=

I am so sorry for the late update! I was quite busy with packing my clothes and even buying some new ones.(Since it's gonna be hot where I'm going.) But now we have the next chapter out, so YAY!

For any of you interested, I've begun doing sketches of Marie and Aura an how they will look in KH3. Not much info if given on KH3, but that doesn't stop me from drawing them. I have their hairstyles done, and I need to think of possible outfits for them. I don't even know if the nobodies will be in KH3, but I have something in stores for Aura in KH3.

Now on to more srz bsnss...  
DID ANY OF YOU WATCH DEGRASSI! OH MY GOSH! I feel so bad for Alli, and...and...-snif- NO FITZ!

**Thank you:**  
Captainface  
Choco3Symphony  
Jewel Thief-Amethyst-  
Keyformer

**for placing this story in your favorites! Much love!**

**Alexandria Volturi:**  
Thank you, and yay!  
I hope you update fast, I'm trying my best as well!  
And well, you'll have to wait till KH2 to find out. And Aura does have an X in her name, it's originally Merixa, but she doesn't like it, so she changed it to Aura.

**Lele-the-Greek-Geek:**  
Yes, uniforms suck.  
Oh and I know, but in the end, I guess we both know who won. I actually cried at the ending.  
And I really, really, really, really hope they bring Fitz back. Or else I will go to the set and cause hell!

Ahaha, yes XD. Lovable annoying us FTW.  
And I'm glad you liked the chapter, and I will try my best to finish this off so you cam enjoy some Rora! XD

**Sayonara Yasashii Akumu:**  
Yes, they're a couple of butt-munchers. DX  
And we will see, although I will say that Lexaeus will probably be the most boring one since, you know, he's boring.

**warrior of six blades:**  
Thank you so much!

** an1995616:**  
XD, Roxas is such a man stud. First, Xion, then Namine, now Aura.  
Roxas and Aura, they have a...special friendship at first.

**Choco3Symphony:**  
Why hello there~  
Thank you so much for liking the original, and I hope you tune in for this one and the rest of the stories I have planned. I am almost done reviewing all of the entrees for my contest, and I think you'll be pleasantly happy to the results once I get my shizz together.

**Kurai-Darkness:**  
Ahaha, yeah. She changed it for the sake of her own reputation! DX  
Ventus in castle oblivion? That old fart, (And I say this with good intentions) is long gone. xD

**sajere1:**  
Aura is full of win indeed. =D  
Oh and I will, they won't know who you are, but they'll still be happy. XD  
Zexion deserves more time, so sad how he doesn't though. And Marie is currently being depressed about what happened in this chapter. Oh the beauty of angst~  
And nuuu! I need more money for vacation clothes!

**burry and bunny:**  
Awe, thank you!  
Aura is Marie's nobody who will have star time in the next story 'Nameless days'. It'll be a AuraxRoxas story, and it'll take place in 358/2 days. Oh, and I know, I'm dying to write about them as well, I wonder how I'll make it turn out though. Probably something along the lines of angst humor.

**xLiesOfLovex:**  
XD thank you so much! I hope you'll enjoy the other stories about Marie and her nobody.  
Oh, and psshh, trust me I can take out Riku. He can't use the darkness because it's scared of me. True story, we once got into an epic darkness and I. I, of course, won. XD

Oh, and well I'm truly sorry. But that contest was to enter your OC in a story I was doing. But It's finished now and I'm reviewing the entrees. DX


	5. Chapter Five: Don't forget

Hey guys,

I really think you should check out these stories, I've been keeping tabs on them, and I really think they're good. Check them out:

1. Re: Kingdom Hearts by **KingdomHeartsRemixXx **  
2. A journey begins by **Alexandria Volturi**  
3. Kingdom Hearts: The Heartless Master by **sajere1 **  
4. A Bright Radiance by **xLiesOfLovex **

* * *

**Chapter Five: Don't forget**

I looked at the cards that Ansem gave Riku, and they're the cards to the worlds Halloween Town, Atlantica, Olympus coliseum, and Wonderland. Riku decided to go to Halloween Town first, and so he raised the card and it opened up the beige door. We walked through it, and my outfit changed. I looked at Riku, and he still had the same clothes, but they looked a little more _dark_-like. He looked at me, and he started laughing.

"What is so funny?" I asked, a little annoyed.

"You _look_ funny," he said. "I wonder how Sora looks like!"

I laughed halfheartedly at Sora's name, mainly because of what Ansem had said. It bothered me a lot what he said, and it annoyed me that he even had the nerve to say it. Regardless, I'm trying to stay positive about it all. Ansem better know that I won't ever give in to the darkness, he must be a fool to think that I would.

"Oh, sorry," I heard Riku say. I looked at him, and gave him a reassuring smile. Riku doesn't have anyone he likes, or at least I _think_ he doesn't. Ah, but I can't be thinking about that. I love Sora, and even if he does, _sorta, kinda, probably, maybe_ like Kairi, I would have to live with that I guess.

Such is my life, after all.

"Don't worry about it," I said, finally answering. "I won't fall into darkness, and I know Sora cares for me."

Riku gave me a questioning look, and I stuck out my tongue playfully. "I said don't worry!"

Riku chuckled, and he looked around. Out of the worlds, I liked this one because of the costume I'm wearing, _but_... those stairs. If I have to climb a bunch of stairs like I did before I think I might go crazy. Riku waved at me, and I took it as a sign that he found a door, so I followed him.

Surprisingly, and finally, there was a good amount of heartless in this world. The worlds we've visited so far have barely had heartless, and I was beginning to get suspicious. But now that Riku and I are getting deeper into finding the truth, I guess now's a good time to raise up the fighting bar. I think it's actually about time, I need something to keep me distracted, and I can't falter in my sword skills.

A bunch of living pod heartless came to us, and I took out my Keyblade. Riku ran towards them, and I ran in after. I know I said I wasn't one to really use my hands and legs to fight, but these limbs of mine were proving useful by the minute. I attacked a living pod, and then it came and attacked me. I managed to block it with my arm, and I attacked it again. It disappeared and a heart came out of it, and I did the same thing to the other two heartless coming at me.

Riku finished off his part of the heartless, and we continued walking on. He gave me a satisfied look, and then he patted my back. "You actually fought in this battle, what gives?" he laughed.

"I've decided to stop being lazy," I laughed along. "Plus I can't leave all the hard work to you, I need a workout!"

Riku laughed with me, and we walked forward as we laughed. In the back of my mind I still had what Ansem said, but I can't let it be my downfall. As much as I want to think about it I have to to push it aside and keeping going. I'm helping out a friend, and I need to focus. We walked for a while, and along the way Riku and I kept play fighting with each other. I was happy that it was easy to get my mind off of things.

We bumped into a door, and Riku immediately took out his cards. He just took out one card, and the door opened. We walked through it, and a bunch of heartless appeared before us. We took our Keyblades out and ran towards the heartless, they were a bunch of shadows, soldiers, and loving pods. The shadows were taken out first, and then we moved on to the soldiers. There were ten of them, so I took out five while Riku took out the other half. The last of the bunch were the living pods, and the strongest of the three groups since, well, shadows and soldiers are the weakest.

There were only two living pods, so the fight went by pretty fast. I attacked one, and then it disappeared. They are ghost heartless, so I had to wait for it to come out. When it did, it hit the back of my head. I stepped back a few steps and rubbed my head, and then I cast Heart Light on it. It burst into the air, and it's heart was released.

Riku finished off the other living pod, and a door with a silver crown appeared. Riku and I walked up to it, and he took out his cards. I helped him by pointing out which cards he should take out, and then he did the rest. He raised the final card to open the door, and light appeared. We walked through the door, and we were face to face with Oogie Boogie.

He smirked at us, and we were suddenly placed inside a conveyer like belt trap. There were three conveyer belts to be precise, and at the end was Oogie Boogie hiding behind bars.

"So nice to see you two," he laughed. "But sorry to say, this cutie's already taken! And it ain't you, so stop trying!"

**Riku**

Riku growled at the sack of crap that laid before him. He never really did like him, and the fact that he was getting the chance to take him down was gratifying. Marie on the other hand, was always disturbed how this bag full of bugs kept calling her "cutie". If he was trying to be funny, he epically failed, but if he was trying to be creepy then he did his job very well.

Riku and Marie looked around while blocking and attacking nearing heartless, Marie noticed that the bars in front of Oogie were breakable, and Riku instantly started to attack it. Marie concentrated on heartless while Riku tried breaking down the bars, and it was taking a while. Marie shifted between attacking and casting her spells, and so far she was handling the heartless well. Of course, they were a bunch of ghosts and living pod heartless. Riku had managed to break the bars, and then the heartless disappeared. They both ran towards Oogie and he laughed as if nothing bothered him.

The bars closed, and they were on the side with Oogie, but heartless appeared in front of him. Marie took it to herself to deal with the heartless, and let Riku deal with Oogie himself. If he needed to overcome the darkness he needed to defeat all of the major darkness that stood before him and Marie. He ran up to Oogie, and attacked him a couple of times, and then back flipped to block an attack. Marie attacked a shadow, and then moved on to a living pod. She attacked it and then ran around as it disappeared, as it reappeared she kicked it and then attacked it again. She moved onto a group of soldiers, and turned around to see Riku still fighting Oogie.

Riku attacked Oogie again, and in return, Oogie threw a bomb at Riku. It caught him off guard, and Oogie tackled him on the floor. Since Oogie was filled with thousands of bugs, he was rather heavy, and Riku didn't doubt that. Oogie went from sack of crap, to _heavy_ sack of crap. Nonetheless, Riku punched the heavy sack to get off, and got himself to move away from Oogie. He got up quickly dusted any dirt off of him, and then pointed his Keyblade at Oogie.

"You're going down!" Riku yelled. Oogie stopped moving, and started laughing. This made Riku even more angrier because Oogie just laughed at his threat, so Riku had enough and ran to towards him. He attacked Oogie, and a light cut was apparent on his side. He yelped, and started running away from Riku.

Marie finished the last bunch of soldiers. A couple of living pods had joined in when she first fought the soldiers, but she managed to kill them all. She looked at Riku and Oogie, and sweat-dropped as she saw Oogie running around yelping. She gave a sigh of annoyance, and decided to join in the battle. So she ran towards Oogie, and kicked him down. Riku came up to her, and face palmed.

"He was always pathetic, wasn't he?" she asked, her foot on Oogie's back.

"Yeah, and he still is," Riku replied. She took out his key blade and stabbed Oogie. He cried out in pain, and then started to disappear.

"Let's get out of this dump," Riku suggested. Marie nodded, and a door appeared behind Riku. He stuck out his hand for Marie, and she happily accepted it as they walked to the door. One thing she never questioned, was her relationship with Riku.

**Larxene, Axel and Vexen**

"How can we help you, Vexen?" asked a spikey red-headed man with bright turquoise eyes. "It's not very often we see you topside."

"I came to lend you a hand," replied Vexen. "You obviously believe this Sora has much potential, but I remain unconvinced he is truly worth such trouble. I think an experiment would show us if he's really any value to us."

"Well, here we go again," a blond headed, green eyed woman named Larxene complained. "It's just an excuse so you can try out your experiments."

"I'm a scientist," Vexen replied. "It's what I do."

"Whatever, you can do what you want," Axel said. "But I think testing Sora is just a cover for testing your valet."

"Valet? He's the product of pure research," Vexen replied angrily.

"You're gonna need this," Axel said. "It's a card holding the memories of Sora and Riku's home."

Vexen turned around, and looked at Axel. Hmm, this will prove useful for my other experiment."

Both Axel and Larxene caught word of what Vexen said, and they both gave him a questioning look. Vexen turned around, and smiled at the both of them. "It's quite interesting actually, a girl by the name of Marie is accompanying Riku on his little adventure through the castle."

"Marie?" Axel asked, completely in shock and disbelief. "How does she look like?"

"Short girl with blonde hair and green eyes," Vexen said, uninterested wit her looks. "Used to live at Radiant Garden for the past ten years if I recall."

_'Hey, Lea? I think I should write my name on your forehead, like big letters that spell Marie so you won't forget who I am, haha.'_

Axel looked at the floor for a moment, and swallowed a lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. He was almost certain that the Marie Vexen was talking about is the same Marie that he knew back when he wasn't a nobody, back when he was Lea. He almost felt the need to just leave the room and run to her and say hi, but he had other plans to do in castle oblivion. Maybe, he thought, after all this is done he'll visit her, and just _maybe_ they can still be friends regardless if he's a nobody.

"What about her, is she important or something?" asked Larxene, a little annoyed.

"Aura," Vexen said. "She is her nobody."

Larxene and Axel both gasped, and they looked at Vexen in disbelief. Aura is a nobody who possesses the power of Kingdom Hearts, and also has the ability to wield a Keyblade. Both Axel and Larxene were incredibly surprised to hear that, as not a lot of information on her somebody was revealed. Axel was the most surprised, as he was assigned as Aura's mentor without knowing much about her. He, along with Aura and Roxas have become great friends, regardless of the tiny fights that Roxas and Aura got themselves into. Knowing this bit of information however, didn't change his opinions about Aura.

Vexen looked at the card, and then looked at the replica. He loved it so when he got the chance to experiment further.

**Marie**

we walked back into the room filled with white walls and that beige door again, and we looked at the cards that Riku had. There was about three more cards left, and I sighed out of relief. The faster we got through these worlds the faster I can get to looking for Sora.

Riku walked up to the door and I followed close behind. He took out a card, the Olympus coliseum card, and raised it in the air. The door opened and we walked through it, being back into Olympus Coliseum always brought back good memories. Heck, even fighting Sephiroth brought good memories. I was with Sora, and fighting beside him. There was nothing that got in between us in this world, so I'm hoping I can get good memories with Riku, too. We walked around the coliseum and to our disappointment, there weren't many heartless around.

"Well, this should be fun," said Riku. "Let's look for that door."

I nodded and we walked around looking for the next door, and a bunch of heartless appeared. Riku looked a little happy knowing that he was going to get _some_ kind of challenge, and so he took out his Keyblade. I took out my Keyblade as well, and looked at the heartless enemies before us. They were monkey heartless, and basic shadows and soldiers, which I was getting sick and tired of seeing.

The shadows and soldiers were easy to take out, and all that was left were the monkeys. There were four of them, so Riku dealt with two while I focused on the other two. I ran towards one and attacked it, but the other one tripped me over and then I grew annoyed. I got up and attacked the monkey that tripped me, and then I tackled it. I punched it's face but then it pushed me off, I got up and attacked it again. The other monkey came up from behind me and tried tackling me down, but instead it was mostly choking me! I took it's hands and struggled to make it let go, and when it did it bumped into the other monkey. I raised my hand and cast Diamond Heart on both of them. They both got released and their hearts floated into the air.

Riku came up and started laughing. "I think they might've liked you."

I looked at him and gave him an annoyed look. "I know how monkeys love each other, and it's definitely not like that!"

Riku gave me a questioning look, and raised one of his eyebrows. "How do you know how monkeys love?"

I rubbed my temples and sighed. "It's a long story, I'll tell you some other time."

Riku laughed, and we continued one. We found a door with a silver crown on it, and we walked up to it. Riku took out his cards, and did the usual. We walked through the door, and we were in the arena, but it looked a little darker than usual. We walked a little further in and we were stopped by another villain; Hades.

"Well, well, well," he said. "It's about time you got here, I was beginning to lose my patience."

"I always found you annoying," Riku replied. "It's time to end this."

"Oh, please." Hades said. "You couldn't accept the darkness, how're you gonna defeat me?"

"Just watch me!" Riku yelled. He ran towards Hades, and attempted to attack him. Hades blocked the attack, and fired a round of fireballs towards him. Riku outran them, and then ran around Hades to distract him I guess. This is my turn, I guessed, and I ran towards Hades, I took out my Keyblade, and I hit him in the back. Riku came in afterwords and attacked him with his Keyblade and the kicked him.

Hades disappeared and a puff of smoke appeared, I covered my nose as did Riku, and we looked around to see if Hades was near. We heard a noise, and we turned to it, but then we were attacked by haling stones. We bent down to avoid most of them, but the rest did hit us, and it hurt _a lot_. I raised my hand, and cast Healing Heart on both Riku and I. It took away our pains and fatigue, and we were back to normal.

Riku ran towards Hades again, and he was about to attack, but then he jumped up and landed behind Hades and attacked him. I ran and attacked Hades as well, and then I stepped back a few steps to cast Diamond Heart. Riku got another hit from him, and then I can in to deal another attack. Hades started disappearing and reappearing in battles, and we constantly had to stay on our guards.

Hades popped up behind Riku and punched him, and then tripped him over. Riku growled and jumped up, he then swung his blade at Hades, and it made him stagger a bit. I ran over to them, and I cast another round of Diamond heart. Riku transformed into his darker mode, the power that Ansem had given him, and started attacking Hades consecutively. Soon enough, Hades began to stumble, and he was holding onto his shoulder. He looked at us and only laughed as he was consumed by his own flames.

We placed back our Keyblades, and I sighed. I didn't really have much of an opinion on Hades, as he didn't really do a lot of personal damage to Sora and I. He just sent out his dog, Cerberus, to attack us, and I really didn't think that was personal at all.

Another door appeared, and we began to walk to it. One world was down, now all that was left were two.

Sora, please be safe. I'm coming to find you, don't worry.

* * *

Herp Derp.  
Don't really have a lot to say except YAY FOR AXEL/LEA MOMENT!  
I wonder if they'll meet soon enough? Tee-hee

**Thank you:**  
Shadow 1n2  
dracula-key

**For favoring this story and placing this story in your story alert list! Much love!**

**Ruciro Katsura:**  
Why, hello Ruciro! =D  
And yes, well, they'll be others, I hope. So you'll get your chance. XD  
Aw, and thanks! Sora got enough screen time, and I think Riku deserves some lovin'!  
Plus, the ending will add more drama? I guess, with the whole separation from Sora.

**xLiesOfLovex:**  
Well, I can't do much now, can I? XD  
And no problem, I'll probably have another one soon, though I don't know when...

**Lele-the-Greek-Geek:**  
Yes, I cried. Mainly because it reminded me of the time my friend had to move schools across the town. Well, they do have security in the episodes now, so... I might need some back-up. xD  
And thank you! Don't worry, I'm now officially halfway through the story. Only five more chapters to go!  
And I hope so too! If not I'm chucking it out the window and getting myself a PS3. I mean, it took Microsoft really hard convincing just to let them release ff13 for Xbox 360.

**warrior of six blades:**  
Thank you!  
And don't get me started on memory cards, mine corrupted when I was playing ff10 RIGHT when I was about to finish the game.

**sajere1:**  
Nah, I'm really not. I got to buy xmas gifts for my family over there, so a lot of shopping for me. XD  
And oh noo! D= how is she feeling Mary-sue if I may ask?  
And yes, Zexion would have made a bad-ass villain. But they gave out Marluxia...  
And no! I need moar clothes!

**Alexandria Volturi:**  
Yea, she doesn't like Merixa. XD  
Everyone calls her that, but when Xemnas appears they call her Merixa.  
Ohh, sequel? How exciting, I can't wait!

**Choco3Symphony:**  
Perfectly warned!  
And haha, yes. I'm looking forward to how she will react when they meet in KH2.  
Marie does like Riku, but her love for Sora is stronger. And you're right! Riku _can_ very much push it enough for something to happen, but that's the Riku we all love!  
Ah, but don't worry, Marie loves Sora no matter what.

Ahaha, well when you're really tired you probably wouldn't give a damn where you slept xD

I think so too, and well, Ansem is quite good playing with the mind. Sora definitely won't give up on Marie, and she's smart and strong enough to know that Ansem's words are all bull. XD She won't give up even if she has to beat him to the floor to make her point.

Ahaha, it's alright, I understood. And thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

**KillerKunoichi94:**  
Thank you!  
True that some of the things she was her own fault, but I still felt horrible. She's a clear and perfect example of what peer pressure can do, and it's deadly. D=  
But what I wonder is what happens to drew? I think I would die if he started hitting on claire or something. Long live ClairexEli!

**Shadow 1n2:**  
Why, thank you very much!  
I actually do have a picture, and I put it up on my profile. Feel free to look at it when you have time. =D

**Kurai-Darkness:**  
I would do the same, Although I don't know how my name would be if I put an x...  
And thank you! I hope you liked this chapter as well!


	6. Chapter Six: Thinking of you

**Chapter Six:Thinking of you**

Time after time I've always said that I was never one to really use my hands and feet to fight, but it's actually easier using them other than the Keyblade, so I think I might invest in some boxing or something.

Anyhow, we were back in the white room, and Riku looked at his cards. We only had two more to go, and then we were outta here! Well at least I hope, that way I can find Sora faster. We walked to the door, and Riku took out then next card. It's the card to Wonderland.

"Yay!" I happily squealed. "Wonderland! The world of sweets and joy...and joyness. "**[1]**

"What... The hell?" Riku looked at me as I sang in a high-pitch voice, and gave me a look as if I had suddenly gone insane. Well... Staying in this castle pretty much will make me go insane pretty soon.

"We better hurry up with this castle," I said, voice back to normal. "The faster we hurry the less time I turn insane."

"I hear ya," Riku said, agreeing. He raised his card, and the door opened. We walked through, and we were in Wonderland. Unlike the real Wonderland, the Cheshire cat that usually comes out wasn't here. To be honest, I was thankful, because he's annoying and I don't like cats. We walked to find another door, and we noticed there wasn't a lot of heartless, which at this point didn't matter to us anymore. I did notice a lot of flowers around the area, and the sight of them around Wonderland is simply beautiful. I walked up to a bunch of flowers, and bent down to get a closer look. Riku walked up after, and he looked at them as well.

"What? You want a flower?" he asked, looking at the flowers and then at me.

"No, but.." I said reaching out for one of the flowers. "Do you think it's lame if I got one for Sora? You know, as a thought that I was thinking about him all the time?"

**Riku**

Riku looked at the bluebell flower in Marie's hand, what she said made Riku feel weird. It wasn't the usual crush-love type of feeling, but... well, he didn't really fee anything. He didn't feel jealous, or annoyed or anything, he thought he would, but he didn't.

He gave a faint chuckle, and looked at the flower, he did like how Marie was so caring about Sora. She clearly didn't let Ansem get to her, as she's always thinking about Sora and his well-being, despite not showing it to him. But he could tell she was thinking about him.

"Get it," he said. "It's a pretty cool-looking flower, and Sora likes anything that looks cool."

Marie smiled, and laughed as she got up. She looked at the flower in her hand, but then began to look around. Riku raised his eyebrow, but then he realized why she was looking around. She wanted to look for something to keep the flower safe, and he also began to look around, until he figured something out.

"I'll put it in my pocket, if you want?" he asked. "It's pretty spacey, so the flower will fit."

She nodded, and handed the flower to Riku. He carefully placed it in his pocket, and pat it gently to show Marie that she had nothing to worry about. She smiled at Riku, and they began their search for the nearest door.

**Marie**

We walked around for a while, and then we found a pink door with flowers on it and a silver crown. I sighed, and jumped up out of joy. Riku looked at me, and gave me another look of insanity. I _really_ gotta get outta this place.

"Let's go!" I said, running towards the door. Riku walked to the door after, and he got out his cards, he did the same thing he did with all the other doors, and it opened. I ran through the door, and we were on the giant table that had the bottles that made you tall or small. They weren't here, but something began to appear from the ceiling. We looked up and saw a black, red and yellow _thing_ just hanging up there, until I realized that it was Trickmaster!

It started to fall, and both Riku and I took cover. I ran to one side of the table, and Riku ran to the other. Luckily, it didn't fall on us, as it landed on the floor, now all we had to do was defeat that crazy sucker to a pulp. I looked over and I saw Riku jump to the floor, and I watched as he did.

I thought I wouldn't have to jump off this stupid table again, but apparently life has it bad for me.

I looked over the table, and I took a deep breath. I jumped off the table, and landed quite nicely on the floor. The only sad part was that no one was looking, as Riku was so intensely focused on fighting Trickmaster. Seriously, someone give me a break here.

I took out my Keyblade, and I ran to the Trickmaster. I may not be able to jump well at times, but the ability to jump high given by Phil sure helped in this battle. I jumped up and managed to land an attack on the heartless, and I looked over and saw Riku do the same.

Huh, guess he has the same ability.

I stepped back a few steps, and I placed my Keyblade in front of me. I closed my eyes, and concentrated on one of my spells. Just like the last time, I want to attain the more powerful form of Heart Light. A light surrounded me, and I opened my eyes. Two white hearts appeared at my side, and I pointed my blade at Trickmaster.

"Let light seep through the darkness, and grant me strength," I chanted. "Heart Light!"

Multiple rays came from the hearts, and they all hit Trickmaster. It wasn't enough to take him down, but it made him stagger a bit. Riku came in, and attacked the heartless again. Trickmaster swung his fire-stick around, and I ran _far_ away to avoid it. There is no way I'm getting hit by fire! Riku also avoided it, but then the heartless swung his other weapon at us, and although it didn't have fire on it, thank god, it did manage to hit my shoulder. It hurt real bad, and I could only grip it so the pain would seem less painful, but I had to cast my healing spell to get rid of it. Thing is, Trickmaster ain't letting me do that. He kept swinging his stick round, and it was getting hard to avoid it. Riku shouted for me to get to a secluded space, and that he'll distract the heartless. I did so, and for the most part it worked.

I raised my hand, and cast my healing spell. I still felt pain, so I cast it again. The pain and my fatigue went away, and I ran back to Riku and the Trickmaster. The legs of the Trickmaster had already been destroyed, and he was just helplessly standing there trying to hit Riku. I ran up to the heartless, and attacked him about four times, and then Riku came in to deal the finishing blow.

The Trickmaster was released, and his heart floated into the sky. Riku gave out a sigh of relief, and walked up to where I was. "I'm starting to agree that this castle is gonna make me insane."

"Let's get out of here, _now_", I said. A door to the exit had suddenly appeared, and we ran to the exit.

**Riku**

At the start of their journey, Riku began to see Marie in a different way, and he started to like that. He could very well see himself with her as a couple, or so he thought.

In truth, as much as he thought it could happen those feelings of his so called "love" for her were just feelings of him not having seen her in a long time. He realized this after spending time with her, and currently, all he can think of Marie being is just a really great friend. But at the same time he still has love for her, but he doesn't know if their love for a friend, or love for a lover.

However, their journey is not over yet, so he still has time to figure out his feelings. He gently touched his pocket, and remembered the flower that Marie picked out for Sora. Riku closed his eyes and gave a small sigh, he was so sure that he loved Marie that he forgot about her and Sora's relationship. He really did hope that his feelings for her were just feelings for a friend. Every time at the mention of Sora, Marie would always smile, regardless of what Ansem said. Sora was good for Marie, and he knows Marie is good for Sora.

He looked up ahead, and saw the white walls and the beige door. Riku really didn't have time to deal with love now anyways, he had something greater to focus on, and that was trying to rid of the darkness. No matter what Ansem fills his head with, Riku wants to remain on the road that his friends walk on. He wanted to overcome the darkness, he _needed_ to overcome it if he was going on the same path as his friends.

**Zexion and Lexaeus**

Zexion, as usual, stood in the meeting room and began to think.

Riku was overcoming the darkness very slowly, and he, along with Lexaeus and Vexen needed to get a control of him soon. They know he could prove quite useful, darkness was always useful.

But then there was the other thought that none of them really wanted to talk about openly, and that's Marie. Lexaeus had no opinion on her, but Zexion and Vexen dreaded the fact that Aura was her nobody. They also dreaded the fact that they also had to get Marie, and that meant interactions with her. Zexion shuddered.

Zexion suddenly gasped, as he could no longer sense Vexen. Lexaeus appeared from his usual portal of darkness, and merely looked straight ahead. "Vexen is no more."

"His scent is gone," Zexion replied monotonously. "Axel struck him down... Agents of the organization striking each other down.."

"Sora is our problem," Lexaeus calmly said. "Vexen was no match for him, yet he's still under Namine's control."

"We can't get rid of him, can't we?" asked Zexion.

"Yes," Lexaeus replied. "Our superior needs a hero of the light, and Marie cannot be it as she will merged Aura."

Lexaeus closed his eyes briefly, and then opened them. "We must obtain Riku, and fast. He will prove useful with his darkness."

"Everything will fall into our hands," Zexion chuckled. "Riku and his darkness, and Marie. Although I don't like the idea of having to see her, I guess it'll be worth it since she and Aura will make us complete beings."

**Marie**

Riku and I stopped for a small break, and we were sitting in a corner of the white room. I was fiddling with my necklace, and Riku was looking at the last card he had. "One card left..."

I looked at the card, and then at him. He had a very saddened yet serious face, and I only looked at him.

"I wonder..." he started. "Will I be free from the darkness after this card?"

I didn't say anything for a while, but I kept looking at him. I really did wonder how it felt to be filled with darkness, I'm sure it's not a pretty thing, but I did want to know. Maybe then I would probably relate to Riku more, and it really did suck that I couldn't help him more than I already have.

Giving out a small sigh, I finally began to answer. "You've been doing so well so far, and I don't think you'll stay trapped in the dark. Either way, Riku... You'll always have your friends with you. We won't let each other fall."

Riku chuckled, and threw the card at me. "I swear you're a sage or something, you always have a response for something."

"A sage is someone who's wise and has advice for everything, Riku," I corrected.

"Whatever," he said, waving his hands lazily around. I laughed, and he got up. "Alright, let's get this over with."

I got up, and nodded. I'm really thankful that Riku is here, or else I would have probably gone insane if I was traveling alone. What with talking to myself—

Hey... speaking of talking to myself, I wonder if Stella is around. "Stella?" I whispered, making sure Riku didn't hear. I waited to hear her voice but as usual...

No response.

* * *

**[1] **CHARLIE THE UNICORN! LOOK HIM UP!

Hurp durp.  
Chapters from now on will be short since we're coming to an end. There's literally four more worlds to go, and four more chapters to finish. so... a world for every chapter it is!

How will it all end? You tell me.

**Thank you:**  
Corrupted Justice

**for placing this story in your story alert list!**

**thank you:**  
Corrupted Justice  
gamemaster1991

**For favoring this story!  
**

**Kurai-Darkness:**  
Ohh, thank you!  
I love Death Note! Long live L!

**burry and bunny:**  
Oh, haha xD  
I know, I drive suspense for everyone crazy.  
Oh, and cool! To be honest, it's every Author's dream to have someone else write about their Ocs. Well that, and to be recognized, but I'm happy in my little home.

**sajere1:**  
Ahaha, yes, feel accomplished!  
And I understand, that is actually suppose to happen, but after this chapter I think you might have a inkling of how the ending it going to be. I can't say anything, but that thought will be out of your head at the end. XD  
Marlooshia, as they call him, is a sissy with a manly voice! I agree with you!

**Corrupted Justice:**  
Ahaha, I'm continuing as fast as I can! ^_^  
Oh and, there will be no love square unfortunately, Axel doesn't love Marie. They're just friends. But... I don't know If I can say the same for Aura...

**dracula-key:**  
Oh, hey!  
Thank you very much!

**xLiesOfLovex:**  
Aw, no problem. It's an incredibly good start for your first fic. Kudos!  
Ahaha, I feel bad for him too. But such is the life of teens, rejection and all. O_o  
If he goes back to the darkness, Marie will be very mad.  
But true, Saya will be there for him, so he's not alone! Yay!

**Lele-the-Greek-Geek:**  
Thank you!  
Yea it sucks when your bffl moves away from you. T_T  
And yes, I need some help. And OMG DID YOU SEE THE PREVIEWS? Claire changes her look! I don't know If I should be happy or sad.. Or mad.  
And will do! I will try my best to make it more suspense-like and surprise-like. XD

And I'm with ya sister! Let's take Marie and show them 360 needs some square Enix lovin'

**-toon:**  
Thank you! And haha, they're really the play fighting type of friends, but they're still civil with each other.  
Oh, and really it's both. Since he's from Riku's memories, he knows he likes her, and well Oogie is an idiot so... That part is pretty much obvious .xD

**Sayonara Yasashii Akumu:**  
Fake-ansem is a butt-munch _  
I think for this story that will be impossible, but for KH2 it will be possible! XD

**Choco3Symphony:**  
I love Oogie as well! He's my favorite villain!  
And lulz, Jack is too happy for a spooky world, seriously. XD  
Although I don't like the bug part, I like how he's a bag!  
Awee, and you're welcome. =D  
They were friends, but there was no lovin' going on. Sora, Riku, Kairi and Marie were like 4/5/6 years old while I think Axel/Lea was like a teen? It would be a very odd way if lovin' if there was. Lol, but for the most part they were just friends, and I bet it will be emotional for Marie when she sees Axel.

Oh, don't worry. I love making Oogie epic! So in KH2 he will be awesome-sauce!

**KingdomHeartsRemixXx:**  
Awe, thank you! I feel so honored.  
Aw, and don't mention it, every good story deserves to me mentioned.  
Aw, and thank you!

**an1995616:**  
Lol, I like Nax, that sounds cool, or Xan.

**warrior of six blades:**  
Thank you, and I also wonder too. But for the most part I don't think we'll see him, as he's busy with trying to defeat Sora. And don't worry, I eventually beat the game.  
And yeah, I know about it. My friend has it, and I've read some of it, but not all. It's pretty cool. xD

**Alexandria Volturi:**  
Ahaha, yeah. Xemnas is funny in an evil way.  
Ah, and don't worry, I can wait. xD


	7. Chapter Seven: Under the sea

Check this story out when you have time!

**I Am Nobody - TheEvilMonkey94**

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Under the sea**

"Oh where all the fishies _swim_, we will be there soon with _them_~!"

"Fishies, fishies, fishies, _fishies_! Some are small, and some are _squishy_~!"

"Stop singing," Riku said in a flat voice.

"Aw, come on," I whined. After our little break, we used the card and made it to Atlantica. Fortunately enough, I was able to save myself from humiliation as I wasn't wearing my mermaid outfit, but we were under water. I don't know how it works, but basically we weren't a mermaid and a merman yet we were breathing underwater.

Whatever, it was fine with me.

But it actually pretty cool, I would breath out air and a bunch of bubbles would spout out. I kept doing it along our walk, and Riku just gave me weird looks. He eventually got over it, and started laughing whenever I did it. "You have a way of making people laugh, you know that?" he said.

"I love making people laugh," I replied. "If the people around me are happy, then I'm happy."

Riku chuckled, and he ruffled my hair.

"Riku!" I yelled. "Every time you do that It's so hard fixing my hair after, I swear you have something in your hands that make my hair look bad!"

Riku laughed and ruffled my hair even more, and we eventually got into a little play fight. We started walking yet we tried ruffling each other's hair. I tried tackling him, but Riku's ten times bigger than I so he was easily able to prevent my tackle. I jumped on his back though, which made him bend over.

I got off of him, and we both laughed it off. We continued walking around and at the same some still play fighting with each other, I realized that this is a special friendship that Riku and I had with each other. I don't know if I could be like this with Sora, play fighting and everything, but I knew that I could act as stupid or as silly and Sora would join in, Riku would just stare at me weirdly. Being like this with Riku sure brought out the fight in me, but being with Sora... I could really be myself with him. I'm not saying I can't with Riku, but I felt more comfortable with Sora.

I kinda wondered, is it true love when you can do anything, whether it be stupid, silly, or completely odd with the person you love and not feel embarrassed or shy? Because that's how I feel when I'm with Sora.

I sighed, I really hope that we can leave this place soon. But of course, if Riku can't escape from the darkness, then I can't leave him. I can't leave a friend who is suffering, even if I can't see Sora for a while, I know I'll see him back home.

Riku called my name, and I looked at him. He was standing in front of a door, and I jumped out of joy, another door leading to a new area. We're a little closer to the end now. I walked up to him, and he opened the door. Just like the previous one, this area looked exactly like it. We walked around some, and Riku encountered some heartless, and we both took out our Keyblades. We both ran in different directions, as he was off killing some sea neons. I looked at my direction, and I was facing against two screw-divers. I raised my blade, and I chanted my thunder spell. However, Topaz Heart didn't cast, instead a new spell came out and it was a giant stoned heart that literally dropped itself on the heartless. They dodged it, but I was wondering what that spell was called.

_Welcome your earth spell, Jasper Heart._

"Stella?" I asked out loud. I didn't get a response, and I was kinda worried how she wasn't talking much. But nonetheless, I had to focus on the fight before me. They started swimming towards me, and I ran straight at them, one of then swung their spear at me, and I bent down in time to dodge it. I took my Keyblade and slashed the one that wasn't doing anything, and then I attacked it again. It died soon after, and I pointed my blade at the other. "Jasper Heart!" I shouted, and the same giant heart appeared again and managed to crush it.

Sadly, though, it still survived, and Riku came in and sliced it before it could attack. I stared at him, and then puffed my cheeks in annoyance. "That one was mine, you know."

"Eh, you were too slow," he laughed off. I stuck out my tongue at him, and he started laughing at me. I gave up trying to me mad, and laughed with him. We eventually continued our walk, and tried looking for the next door.

**Riku**

Riku placed his hand over the pocket that was carrying Marie's flower, and remembered that he even had the flower there. He still mentally laughed about it, but not in a bad way. He wondered to himself if he can be able to see when Marie gives Sora the flower, he would have loved to see the awe-stricken look on Sora's face. Indeed that boy found anything cool looking to be completely out of this world, and he would stare at it with such awe.

Something that Riku wondered was how everyone would be once he, Marie and Sora returned home. He was thinking how Marie and Kairi would get along, and how Kairi would handle the news once she learned that Marie and Sora like each other.

Of course, all that had been summed up, but he didn't know.

Riku also thought about all the stuff they'll all get to do once they return home, he smiled at the though of having a new friend join the trio, now making it a quartet. Getting home was running through Riku's mind a lot, and he just couldn't wait to see his parents, and sleep in his own bed.

He wondered about the 'secret cave' as well, and if anyone else had drawn in it. When he got home, he definitely had to make plans so he, Sora, Marie and Kairi would be able to draw themselves being great friends.

But then he began to think about what Ansem said to Marie, he hoped it didn't bother her, and so far she didn't seem bothered. Although it wasn't likely, he was still a little concerned that maybe Sora does have feelings for Kairi. They were always together, so a little romance between them was bound to happen. Although Riku wasn't on either side, he would just have to hope that Sora picked the right girl for _him._

Riku gave out a low sigh, the last thing he was thinking about was his ordeal with the darkness. He wasn't sure why a replica of himself was made, but it bothered him. He didn't know why that man, Even, as Marie calls him, was so interested in him either. But just as Ansem said, even though he didn't want to trust his words, Riku was going to find out the truth.

**Marie**

We continued to walk, and walk, and of course walk around this watery place, and we still haven't found a door. As much as I dislike being a mermaid, I do love water, and I remember I would always stay in it till my skin looked all prune-like.

But my skin wasn't doing that, and it had to do with the fact that we could breath in the water.

Anyways, we kept walking around, and we finally found a door with the silver crown on it. Riku took out his cards, and he got the door opened by adding cards. We walked through it, and we were on a small black platform. There were small several whirlpools surrounding us, and tentacles started appearing. I shuddered at the thought of her, and then she popped up from the water and appeared before us. Ursula, the sea witch. Never thought I'd see her scary self again.

Riku ran up to to the enemy as always, and started attacking her. I followed close behind, and then started attacking as well. She threw one of her tentacles at Riku, and he was thrown back a few. I ran up in his place and attacked that witch where it hurt! She was wearing her crown and had King Triton's trident, and she pointed it at us, and it zapped at us.

We dodged it, and Riku transformed into his dark self, the power that Ansem gave him. He became much faster, and much stronger. She ran to each tentacle and slashed it a couple of times, and then when Ursula pulled them back he ran t straight to her. I decided not to get in his way, and fired a around of Topaz heart. The shocks were effective, and with Riku constantly attacking her she fell down pretty quick.

Riku returned to normal, and I walked up to him. A door appeared in front of us, and Riku stuck out his hand. "We're done."

"It seems like it," I happily said, taking his hand. The door began to open, and we both happily walked through the door.

Although...

What I was seeing wasn't much of a happy sight.

* * *

Ooooh, cliffhangers! Gotta hate me for it. XD  
But squeals! Chapter seven done! Only three more to go, aren't you excited! I am!

**Thank you:**  
Kaelyn the Hedgehog  
kh2 fan13

**For favoring this story, and thank you **_Kaelyn the Hedgehog_** for placing this story in your story alert list! Much love!**

**Kurai-Darkness :**  
Yes, L is awesome!  
And it's getting even more interesting!

**burry and bunny:**  
Ahaha, thank you!  
And now that I realize it, I did do a SH reference, you gotta love Henry. XD  
I'm glad I made you laugh!

**warrior of six blades:**  
Why thank you very much!  
Yes, well, I love adding in some humor. XD  
And yes, I did finish it and owned it epically!

**sajere1:**  
Well, you are psychic, so no need for me to say. XD  
Hmm... I get Luamari, then there's Lumaria, and Alumari. Then of course, Alurmia. Geez, they all sound girly. No wonder he controls flowers...

**xLiesOfLovex:**  
Aw, that really sucks. I usually watch KH clips on YT since I'm writing a KH fic. That helps me sometimes. But writer's block sucks, and I get it when I read a really something that totally puts me off the mood. But so far, none has put me off. XD I love all the stories I read.

That's like bad luck times infinity when your haunted by darkness. O_o

Marie is sometimes... unpredictable. She would totally dive into the darkness looking like Friday the 13th's Jason as to scare it off to get Riku back. O_O

Hmm, well. I personally like Maya. It'll totally be cool with Saya's name. You know, Saya and Maya. XD When I think Mayu though, I totally think Nayru from Zelda. I love her. T^T

**Alexandria Volturi:**  
I like to poke fun of Xemnas. XD  
And no worries, and I will check it out!

**Chimichar:**  
Thank you!  
And haha, I love bringing the lulz to you guys. XD

**Lele-the-Greek-Geek:**  
Thank you for the compliment!  
Just the two of just! -starts singing that song from Austin powers-  
And WOWEE, Degrassi was just wow. I'm a little disappointed in Claire, she better not lose Eli. And I feel bad for Declan, He's cute now that his hair matches his eyebrows. But I'm curious as to what happened with Drew. I want to see how he's dealing with Ali's departure.  
And yay for sugar! I love it. =D=D=D=D=D  
Hmm, how indeed. Let's go steal Cid's Highwind! I call driver's seat!  
And charlie is the epitome if awesomeness. I love that unicorn!

**Ruciro Katsura:**  
Oh my gosh. XD funny name.  
She's a rabbit person, and she'd totally keep one as a pet if she had the chance.  
Psycho kitty? Wicked.

**an1995616:**  
Gotta love him, right? XD

**Choco3Symphony:**  
Lol, I wonder how old Axel is though. _  
And it is! And well... Sora won't get it, but _he'll_ get it. Get it?  
I kinda wish I had a charlie plushie now that I keep thinking about him... no wait. Screw it, I want the blue unicorn. Gluba-Gluba.

Oh, and don't worry, the ending shall be very ….sweetbitter, haha.

**dracula-key:**  
I actually don't mind it much. I love the mushrooms, they're so cute. XD  
And I love the different worlds they put in BBS, a nice change.  
And I hate Monstro too, I thought it was pointless. DX

**kh2 fan13:**  
Awe, thank you so much!  
And haha, I would lol my butt off if I saw you doing it. XD  
And well, Captain hook is useless, so might as well make him useless till the end. XD

**TheEvilMonkey94:**  
Oh no, thank _you_ very much! I feel really warmhearted knowing that someone thought this story was inspirational enough to make someone else write a story. I truly feel honored.


	8. Chapter Eight:The island of Destiny

**[1]** TRINITY ATTACK, Y'ALL!

* * *

**Chapter Eight: The island of Destiny**

"N-no way... Aeleus?"

Riku and I looked at the tall man with short curly brown hair and blue eyes. Riku looked at him with an angry look, and took out his Keyblade while I looked at Aeleus with a disbelieving look.

"That scent...," Riku said. "You're another one of those 'nobodies!'"

"Nobodies?" I asked. "No, this is Aeleus, I know him!"

"You are wrong," Aeleus replied. "I am a "nobody." I was once known as Aeleus, but now I am known as Lexaeus."

"Lexaeus..?" I looked at Aeleus...Lexaeus, and I couldn't believe it. Just what was a nobody? Why is he all of a sudden turning his weapon on us?

"I sense you're afraid of the darkness," Lexaeus said. "And that you're capable of controlling it. Cast away your fear and open your hear to the darkness!"

"Stop it!" I shouted.

** Lexaeus**

Lexaeus looked at Marie, and seeing her for the first time still didn't make him have an opinion. Something he did notice about her was that she possessed the Keyblade that she had taken out.

"I'm not letting you take Riku!" she shouted, Keyblade placed in front of her. "I don't care if you're Lexaeus or Aeleus, no one, and I mean _no one_ is gonna ruin Riku's hard work of escaping the darkness!"

Lexaeus looked at Marie's angry face. When he was Aeleus, he remembered quite clearly that Marie was always happy, so seeing her extremely angry was something new to him. It still didn't make him flinch or anything, Lexaeus had no feelings, and he didn't complain about it. Feelings were nothing but an obstacle, preventing people from doing their worst. But nonetheless, he wasn't going to just take Riku. Organization needed Marie.

"You are coming with us as well," he said. "You hold the power of Kingdom Hearts, something that another Nobody like us posses."

Marie gave Lexaeus a questioning look, she didn't know what he was talking about and she didn't want to know. Her main focus was on Riku, and she wasn't going to let him, or herself, be taken in by some castle guard.

She ran straight towards him, and flung her Keyblade at him. He dodged it easily, and his block was so strong it sent Marie flying back a few. She landed on her behind, but quickly got up. Riku was standing next to her, and although it was barely visible, he was able to see a tear stream down her cheek.

Marie always thought of Aeleus as a gentle giant, but his.._nobody_ was certainly the opposite. She was incredibly disheartened to know that someone who was also close to Ansem has turned his back on him, and she was completely angry about it. It was as if everyone treated Ansem like some doormat they could step on, as if he was someone of low importance. She was not having it, and she was going to let Aeleus, Lexaeus... whatever his name was, have it.

Lexaeus threw his giant sword that very much looked like a clamp tool that was used to clamp wood together at Riku. He jumped above it, managing to avoid it, and threw his blade at Lexaeus. With his strong exterior, he was able to grab hold of the Keyblade so it didn't hit him. It returned to Riku right after, and he rant straight into Lexaeus, slashing him and leaving behind a deep gash.

Marie was up next, and she ran towards Lexaeus. Adrenaline had kicked in, and Marie was out for revenge. She flung her blade again, and Lexaeus had blocked it. She flung it again, and managed to hit his shoulder. He raised his sword and slammed it to the ground, hoping to send Marie flying again. Dust appeared in front of him, and he hoped that she was sent back, however, she came running through the dirt and sucker punched him right in his face.

Lexaeus pushed Marie back, and she landed on her behind again. Riku was standing beside her, Keyblade in hand. She got up, and they watched as Lexaeus chanted an earthly aura around him, and he was brimming with a brown light around him. He raised his blade, and Rocks began to appear from the floor. Marie and Riku dodged most of the rocks, but some had hit them. Marie quickly healed Riku, and then suddenly a faint light appeared between them.

"What's this?" Marie asked, curious yet cautious of Lexaeus standing near them, gathering more energy to cast another earth spell.

"I dunno, but I feel power from it," Riku responded. "I feel the power of darkness."

"And I feel the power of light," Marie added. Riku looked at the light, and suggested using it together. Marie nodded, and they looked at Lexaeus, who had the same plain look on his face.

Riku, using the power of darkness, had a dark blue aura around him. He quickly ran towards Lexaeus and started attacking consecutively, his last hit was aimed at the floor, and once he slammed his Keyblade there, the impact made Lexaeus fly up in the air. Marie pointed her hand at him, and multiple rays of light wrapped around him, trapping him in the same location. A disc changing from dark blue to white appeared, and Riku jumped on it. It headed towards Marie, and she got on as well, and both her and Riku were back to back. With the disc spinning around Lexaeus, Riku pointed his Keyblade at him, and Marie pointed hers at him as well. Balls of darkness from Riku's blade came bursting out, and spears of light came from Marie's Keyblade. They spun around for a good while, attacking Lexaeus with their combined powers.**[1]**

The disc disappeared, and they jumped off. They both ran towards Lexaeus, and swung their Keyblade straight at Lexaeus. He staggered backwards, and finally bent down holding onto his sword.

All three of them were out of breath and in pain, and Marie sat on the floor to properly catch her breath. Riku was standing still, and shouted Lexaeus' end. He ran towards him with his Keyblade. Lexaeus managed to get up, and swung his sword at Riku's Keyblade. The impact of Lexaeus' sword sent Riku hitting the ceiling with his back, and came falling down hard. Marie, out of breath, ran and bent down to Riku's side.

Lexaeus, still physically hurt from his defeat, limped towards Riku and Marie with his sword. As soon as he got close, Riku began to glow in a dark blue colour, and Marie began to worry. Suddenly Riku disappeared, and she looked at Lexaeus.

Lexaeus gasped, and dropped his sword. Marie looked behind him, and saw Riku in his dark form. Saying that Lexaeus was too slow made Marie realize that Riku was possessed, as she did not hear his voice but rather, Ansem's voice.

Lexaeus looked behind him, and started breathing heavily. "Forgive me, Zexion. This was a fight I should not have started.."

Lexaeus started to disappear and Marie only watched as he slowly faded into the darkness. When he completely disappeared, she came face to face with Riku. The only thing is, it wasn't really Riku. He smirked, and started to walk towards Marie very slowly...

She only watched in horror as she was unable to move much due to her fatigue.

**In the darkness: Riku**

Riku floated in a mass of nothingness, and he was surrounded by dark pools that was a dark shade of blue. He awoke, and started to panic. Immediately he called out for Lexaeus, hoping he didn't drift into the darkness with him. When he got no response, Riku started to sniff, and the foul smell of darkness soon made him realize who was near.

"Ansem!" Riku shouted.

"Good, you have been thinking of me," he replied. "the more you do, the closer my return draws."

Ansem suddenly appeared in front of Riku, and a dark aura appeared around him. Riku started backing up, but Ansem kept coming closer and closer, until his hand was an inch away from his heart. A voice was heard, and Riku immediately recognized it. It was his majesty, King Mickey, telling Riku to fight the darkness. Mickey appeared in front of Riku, although transparent, and protected Riku.

"What is happening!" cried out Ansem, feeling a sudden pain. "No! It can't be! How is she able to overcome I!"

Riku looked as King Mickey ran towards Ansem, and then a bright light appeared around him. He covered his eyes as he started to disappear.

**Before the darkness: Marie**

As Ansem walked closer and closer to Marie, she began to breath inconsistently. She didn't know what to do, but she had to do _something_. She got up, although shakily and exhaustively, and continued watching as he came closer.

"You still have the chance to join in the warmth of darkness," he said. He stuck out his hand for Marie to take, as he was right in front of her. "You don't need Sora."

Marie's eye twitched, and something snapped inside of her. She was sick and tired of hearing Ansem talk, and slapped his hand away. She stared intensely at Ansem, and he only laughed. He grabbed Marie's wrist, and then something happened.

A light appeared around her, and Ansem pulled his hand away yelling in pain. She grabbed his head, and started moving backwards and shouted, yelled and cried in pain. He collapsed on the floor, and then Riku returned as he transformed back into his original self.

_How pathetic. Truly the power of darkness is a sight of utter weakness, even with my low connection right now, I was still able to protect you from him. Marie, stay on your guard, as Riku will be in dire need of help from now on._

**Marie**

I fell to my knees, and started in inhale deeply. I couldn't move an inch from the pain I was feeling from the fight with Lexaeus. I was so thankful that Stella had come in and saved my butt. After properly catching my breath, I healed myself, and the pain as well as fatigue started to disappear.

I got up and walked over to Riku, who was lying face first on the ground. I sat beside him, and tried waking him up. I heard hum grunt, and then he began to get up. He looked panicked, and frantically looked around.

"Your Majesty!" he called out. He calmed down, and then looked at me. "Marie! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I replied. "Did Ansem try to take control of you?"

"Yeah, but the King protected me," he responded. "He didn't do anything to you, did he?"

"Stella helped me out, so he wasn't able to do anything to me," I said, making him feel assured. I got up, and he looked around. There was nothing except an opened door head, he turned around, and I knew that there was nothing left but to go forward. I nodded at him, and we both left to the opened door ahead.

**Zexion and Axel**

Zexion placed a finger on his chin, and looked up as he no longer was able to sense the scent of Lexaeus. With no emotions to bear, Zexion merely kept staring at the floor. A dark portal appeared, and Axel appeared in front of him.

"Vexen, Larxene, and now Lexaeus," he said. "I wonder who will be next in line."

"I thought it might be you," Zexion replied.

"Hah, no way," Axel responded. "I already took a pounding from Sora. He thinks I'm gone for good. I think it'll be Marluxia next for going against the organization."

Axel looked at the floor for a moment, before looking at Zexion. "What about you? I heard you guys were going after Riku... and Marie."

"Yes, well we were going to use Riku to destroy the traitors, but now that Marluxia is next in line to disappear, there's no need for him, "Zexion confirmed. "It seems my focus now is to obtain Marie, as much as I don't want to."

"Why don't you you just leave her," Axel said. "We don't have enough hearts yet, and she won't get to far, someone else could take her later."

"You sound almost concerned for her," Zexion suspected. "I can't allow to delay it. She will help us since she, Aura, _and_ Roxas all posses the Keyblade. And once we do get enough hearts, we just simply make Marie whole and use her like a key, then dispose of her."

"I know we have no hearts, but that's a bit harsh," Axel replied. "I know Marie, she's a strong kid, and she'll be tough to handle."

"I know her too," Zexion smirked. "And I know what to say to make her off guard. But for now..."

"Do you still have the card that holds Riku and Marie's memory of their home world?"

**Marie**

we walked up some stairs, and then we suddenly felt the floor shake. Riku and I panicked, but then it went back to normal. We looked around, and Riku sniffed the air. "Whoa, one of the scents just died... a really big one."

We looked around some more, and then suddenly a dark ball appeared before us. Riku and ran up a bit, but I stopped the moment I saw the person in front of me. This isn't happening... no... this couldn't be happening...

Ienzo... was in front of me, wearing the same cloak as Aeleus. I started breathing inconsistently, and Riku noticed. He looked at Ienzo, and I did as well. Although it hurt to look at the face that was the first to break my heart, Ienzo was much older looking. He had an evil smirk plastered on his face.

"The keeper of this castle, Marluxia, has just been felled by the Keyblade master," he said. My jaw dropped, did he mean Sora?

"Keyblade?" Riku asked.

"Sora! Sora's here!" I shouted. "Where is he!"

Ienzo looked at me with such an angered face, and normally I would have cared. But Sora.. Sora was here! He was here all the time, wasn't he? Sora... I'm coming soon, _please_ don't die or disappear on me!

"Would you like to see him?" Ienzo asked. "Can you even face him?"

"What do you mean?" asked Riku.

"You still have darkness in you. Do you really think you can face Sora how you are now?" Ienzo replied. "His fate is to fight the darkness and he must defeat anyone who has darkness, in other words, you."

"No!" I shouted. "They can't fight! All we ever did was fight each other during our time finding Kairi, don't make them fight!"

"Believe it or not," Ienzo threw a card at Riku. "See it with your own eyes."

"Our home!" I said, looking at the card. "Ienzo—"

"It is Zexion," he replied. "The Ienzo you knew has been lost."

Ienzo, no.. Zexion disappeared into the dark, and Riku continued to look at the card. I never thought this would happen. I never thought I would ever see Ienzo, or Zexion... I thought meeting each other for the first time in a long time would be more... _different_ than this, but I guess I can't change that now. What I was really thinking about was one thing...

Sora.

He's in the castle, fighting these bad guys like we are. My heart felt lighter, as I now know where he is. I was feeling incredibly happy, and I couldn't wait to see him. I looked at Riku, and he was still looking at the card. I walked closer, and took the card from him.

"Let's finish this, Riku," I said. "Let's go find the truth you're looking for, and then let's meet up with Sora."

Riku stare at me with a blank face, but then he started smiling. "Alright, let's go!"

Riku and I walked up to the beige door, and he raised his card. The door opened, and we walked through. Riku immediately ran over to an area, and I followed close behind. He climbed up a tree that laid close to the floor, and I looked at it. I could see Paopu fruits hanging from the three, and the green leaves slowly and silently went against the wind. I took a seat next to Riku, and we merely stared at the water.

"It doesn't look like much has changed," I said. "I wasn't able to see much when we fought Ansem. I... seeing this place really makes me homesick, you know?"

Riku looked down a the sand for a minute, and then looked at the waters. "You know, after you were kidnapped, I really only thought that you took a boat and left the islands. Ever since then, I wanted to travel and get off this rock."

"What about now?" I asked. "I bet you're homesick too."

"Hmph," was all he could come up with. He looked around, and his eyes shot up. "Hey—"

He started running towards the shore opposite to where we are, and before following him I saw three kids playing around. I squinted my eyes, and then they went wide. I couldn't believe that I was seeing Wakka, Tidus and Selphie! I looked at Riku running, and I ran after him. I wanted to see them too.

We ran up to the shore, and we stopped right on front of the trio. Riku called out to them, and they all turned around without saying anything. Riku asked them why they were so quiet, but they didn't respond. He waved his hands in front of Tidus' face, but then they all started to disappear. Riku ran up to them, but it was already too late. They were gone.

I heard him sigh after, and then he walked back to where I am. He looked at the sand again, and then he looked at me. "I guess we should look around."

I looked at his solemn face, and I felt bad. I don't like seeing Riku all gloomy and depressed, it's really not like him, but I agreed nonetheless. Of course, I told Riku that if he wanted to sit and rest, I was down for it, but he shook his head and wanted to get this over with. I did too, but if you need to think about something, a little break wouldn't hurt.

We walked back to the Paopu tree, and Riku looked around for any missing clues. I stood nearby, until I started seeing purple behind me. I turned around, and I was standing in front of Kairi.

"Kairi?" I asked. I heard Riku grunt, and then I looked at him as he came running towards us. As soon as he got to where we were, Kairi began to disappear. I extended my hand to her, but she didn't respond or anything. Riku dropped his shoulders, and sighed once again.

"Sure you knew this would happen," a voice all too familiar in the short time I've heard it say. Riku turned around, and I did as well, although slowly. No doubt, it was Zexion who was standing before us.

"You met only dark beings in the worlds you traveled to," he said. "And that's all you have; dark memories. You don't have memories from anyone on this island."

"That's all lies!" Riku shouted. "I remember everyone! Wakka, Tidus, Selphie, Kairi, Sora, and Marie! They're my..."

Riku dropped his shoulders, and looked sad. "Closest friends."

"Ah, and who threw away those friends?" Zexion asked. "You're own actions that you forgot? You're the one who destroyed you home!"

I gasped, and Riku looked angry, I was completely shocked as to why Zexion would ever say such a thing. Riku looked around, and the next thing that happened what the sky turning black. Riku looked panicked, and I was starting to feel a little scared. I was slowly feeling my anxiety attack rise.

"This is... that night!" Riku shouted. I looked at him, and questioned what he said. Zexion stood behind us, and smirked.

"This place was lost to the darkness, and many people lost their hearts," he pointed his finger at the shore. "Because of what YOU did!"

a hologram of Riku appeared standing near the shore, and only his back was visible to us. "You hated being an islander, so you opened the door to darkness and destroyed the lands. It was YOU!"

I watched as Riku had a pained look on his face after seeing himself standing on the shore, and I tried my best to calm him down. I looked over to Zexion, and he merely had a smirk on his face, and then spoke again. "You should look at what you truly are!"

A giant heartless appeared, and attacked Riku. I tried extending my hand to him, but then I suddenly felt myself being pulled away. I looked at Riku one last time, and I noticed the heartless disappeared. I looked behind me, and then all I saw was darkness.

**Riku**

Riku looked as Marie was getting sucked into a dark portal made from Zexion, and he called out for her. A scream escaped her mouth, and then the portal closed. Riku ran up to it, and looked around to see if there was a way to open it. But then he suddenly felt someone run up to his, and the noise of a key jingling. He turned around, but jumped from the attack that came to him. He looked up, and his face suddenly grew in disbelief.

Sora was standing in front of Riku, and he couldn't believe it.

Riku got up, but then Sora attacked him again. Riku blocked the attacked, but Sora was incredibly strong as he placed his sword against Riku's.

"Sora! Stop!" Riku shouted. "Don't you recognize me?"

"Yeah, I do," Sora replied. "I can see what you've become!"

Sora pulled back, and pointed his blade at Riku, a ray of light appeared from it, and attacked Riku. "How can the light hurt you? Have you really become a monster of the dark? You're nothing but a pawn of the dark!"

Sora positioned himself against Riku, and glared at him. "Fine, it's time for you to face the light!"

Sora raised his blade, and then suddenly, a light appeared, and engulfed Riku.

**Marie**

I slowly opened my eyes, and I was suddenly feeling like I was fading... into the dark.

All I did was stare as I was falling deeper and deeper, I couldn't think. Couldn't understand. Couldn't even move.

"I guess he didn't want to listen after all," I heard someone say. I felt myself turn right upside down, and I was now floating. I looked in front of me, and a guy with extremely spiked red hair stood on front of me. He had such bright emerald eyes, and he was smiling at me, god knows why.

"Boy, you've changed," he said, and I raised my eyebrow. "You don't look as boyish anymore, but your hair looks like a mess."

I touched my hair, and felt frizzles all around my hair. I sighed, but then I realized I was moving. I looked at the guy, and I felt like I've seen him before.

"You look familiar," I said, almost in a whisper. I could tell I was getting tired. "Who are you?"

"Axel's the name," he said, winking. I noticed he was wearing the same outfit as Zexion, Lexaeus and Even, was he another bad guy?

"You're wearing the same cloak as Zexion and Lexaeus," I said. "Are you going to kidnap me or something?"

"No, actually, I'm not," he said. "we were friends you and I, and I'd like to still be friends. Zexion placed you inside a ball of darkness, I guess. I'm here to help you out."

What did he mean by ' were were friends'? I was feeling confused, and still sleepy. But I had to focus on his guy, Axel.

"Axel, what do you mean about being friends?" I asked.

"Do you remember Lea?"

* * *

Omigod.  
Two more chapters left!

Clifhanger? I think so. xD

**Thank you:**  
Draconian Master  
xXIlovethefreakinwolfpackXx  
Orange-I-Love-U's  
Zero Walkins

**For favoring this story!**

**Thank you:**  
Draconian Master  
xXIlovethefreakinwolfpackXx  
TheEvilMonkey94  
Adorkable93  
Zero Walkins

**For placing this story in your story alert list!**

**xLiesOfLovex:**  
Oooh, I listen to music too, I forgot to add that. xD  
Huh, that is weird, but at least you got your ending!  
And ooh, Can't wait to find out. =D Sounds innerestin' even more!

Ahaha, I don't think people will get confused.. Unless it's like, Saya and Sayu, THEN it's confusing. XD

**Lele-the-Greek-Geek:**  
I watched it yesterday, personally it was the same as the second one. But still good. XD  
I wish I had sugar, I'm running on 5% here without Sugar, and I don't wanna be a fatty and pig out with the sugar box. DX  
Lulz, Marie will probably be too busy handling the bazooka. She's very hardcore. XD  
Moar cliffhangers. XD YAY!

**burry and bunny:**  
lulz, more cliffhangers my friend!

**dracula-key:**  
Thanks.  
Well, I'm not 100% sure on this, but since 358/2 and BBS are side games, team Sqeenix probably didn't want to put too much stuff into it. Or didn't want to use a lot of money on it.

**sajere1:**  
Lulzz! Rock Heart, FTW!

Yay for psychic-nism! Lol, well, the ending is coming soon. XD I can't wait.  
That would've been sad, haha. But Marluxia wouldn't be Marloosha without his girly attributes. So I'm glad Nomura had fun on his design! xD

**warrior of six blades:**  
Thank you!  
And Marie would probably wrap herself in seaweed, she's doesn't like showing too much skin. Plus she thinks she's flat, so another reason for her dislike of

**Alexandria Volturi:**  
I checked out your story, but I forgot to review. But overall It's a nice story, it is very popular, and I hope you update it. XD

**Kurai-Darkness:**  
I used to like Light, before he went crazy and obsessed with being God. O_o  
He's still a kick ass villain though. XD  
Aw no worried, you spelled it right. Well, Aura will probably have more skills that spells. The two are very different in personality, and fighting wise.

**Ruciro Katsura:**  
lolwut? O_o  
Toby is sounding scarier by the minute. _


	9. Chapter Nine: Into the twilight

SOOO SORRY for the late update.  
My computer's cooling fan was acting out of control, and it made humongous amounts of noise like so:

**RRRRRRRRRRRRR**RRRRRR**rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr**RRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrr.

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Into the Twilight**

Riku faded into the light, and as he fell, he suddenly began to hear a voice. A soothing voice telling him he was not going to fade. He opened his eyes, and he saw Kairi standing in the distance surrounded by light. He couldn't figure why she wasn't floating like he was.

"There's no power that can defeat you," she said. "Don't turn from the light, and don't fear the darkness, because none of them can defeat you. Both will make you stronger."

Riku began to think of what she said, and he questioned it. Can darkness _and_ light really make him stronger? He was running away from the darkness because he truly believed it would destroy him, and he questioned this to Kairi.

"It'll make you stronger, because it's strength that's yours," she replied. "If you can stare into the darkness and not turn away, then you won't be afraid of anything."

Riku never really thought that darkness could prove to be helpful, and he never thought that it was good. But realizing what Kairi said had certainly made sense, if he could stare straight into the darkness, he won't be afraid. This way, he could face the darkness, and walk through the brightest light.

"Follow the darkness," Kairi said again. "It'll lead you to your friends."

"Can I face them?" Riku asked.

Riku couldn't see it, but as Kairi responded saying he can, Naminè appeared briefly. It was never Kairi talking to Riku, but instead, Naminè. Being connected to Kairi sure made Naminè not want to see Riku or Sora be in trouble. So she had to do what was needed.

Riku had reached the floor to the light, and looked ahead. He transformed into his dark self, and took out his Keyblade. He wasn't going to let anything get in his way, and after what Kairi had said, it made sense. Sora was not Sora, in fact, it was a trap planned out to defeat Riku. But he knew now, that nothing is going to get in the way of him and finding his friends.

He took out his Keyblade, and slashed through the light. He was not going to go back and defeat Sora, he was going back to defeat Zexion.

When he came to the surface, and attacked Sora, Zexion appeared in his place, and gasped.

"Impossible..!" Zexion gasped. "How did you find me when you were in light?"

"I followed the darkness right to you," Riku replied. He took out his Keyblade, and waited for Zexion to prepare. He was going to destroy him with all the power he had, but he wanted Zexion to be fully prepared so he could show him that he was strong.

When Zexion prepared, their battle shortly began after.

**Marie**

Axel, who was once Lea, told me everything about nobodies. They're whats left behind by those whose hearts have been consumed by Heartless. He told me that Isa, Ienzo, Even, Aeleus... almost everyone I knew at the castle has a nobody. It was really sad... they all fell into the darkness, only to have this sort of outcome.

"how were you turned into a nobody?" I asked.

"I dunno, it's a bit foggy, and I don't feel like talking about it much," Axel replied, which was pretty understandable. I didn't want to bring back bad memories or anything.

"This is pretty cool though," he spoke. "I never thought I'd see you again. I thought you were a goner."

"No, I was just lucky," I said. "just how I was lucky to meet with my old friends. By the way, when are you going to save me? We've been here for a while now."

"Ah, well," Axel said. "It's not me actually saving you, it's Riku. He's fighting Zexion right now, and if he defeats him, then the trap goes away, and you'll be with Riku again. I'm just keeping you company really."

"So you were just going to take credit?" I asked, chuckling. "You haven't changed much." Axel scratched the back of his head, which made me laugh even more.

There was a lot on my mind now that Axel had told me new information, and I was trying to break down everything. I wanted to see Sora, and that was first on my invisible list. Then after that I'll work on what's next. I looked at Axel, and he was looking around now. Memories of how he, Isa and I would always play Frisbee came back, and that's when I started thinking about Isa.

"How's Isa doing?" I asked. Axel looked at me, and he had a nervous look on his face. I raised my eyebrow, wondering why he was nervous, and waited for his response.

"Well..." he started. "Let's just say he's gotten more... serious than before."

I wasn't really sure what he meant by that, but I really wanted to see him. Isa was always the calm one, Lea was the rowdy one, and I was always the happy one. Nonetheless, I still want to see Isa, or whatever his nobody was named... Axel told me that some nobodies can still have their memories, although I wasn't sure how it worked. I wasn't really paying attention to that part.

But then I started to think about Sora, Kairi and I. We lost our hearts, so did we have nobodies? It certainly wasn't out of the question, and I think Axel might know about it more than I.

"Hey Axel?" I asked, and he looked at with a questioning look. "I lost my heart to the darkness at one point, would I have a nobody?"

He looked a little hesitant, but it quickly disappeared, and he began to speak. "Well, I dunno. I mean, I haven't seen her or anything... You don't have any darkness in you, so probably not."

I nodded, a little disappointed. I think having a nobody would be sort of cool. Oh well, I hope Riku was almost done.

**Axel**

Was it right for Axel to lie about Aura? Probably. Did he want to tell her about Aura? No. Did he feel bad for not telling her? Yes.

As much as Axel wanted to tell her, it could cause a lot of problems that he would rather want to avoid. Talking to Marie sure did make him feel like he had a heart, kind of the same way how Roxas and Aura made him feel. It was amazing how identical Marie and Aura were, but Aura definitely won the trophy for being the moodiest.

Axel looked around, and tried thinking of ways to keep the conversation going, but then everything began to shake, and he knew that Riku had succeeded in defeating Zexion. He knew he was going to have to leave soon, and he didn't want to. He was going to succeed in keeping Marie safe, and his superior will never know about Marie's powers, and how she's vital to his plans on making everyone whole.

"I think Riku's done defeating Zexion," Axel spoke, and Marie nodded. "Now, when you see the light, just follow it, it'll lead you to Riku."

Marie nodded again, and she began to see Axel fade. She extended her hand to him, not wanting him to leave, and he grabbed her hand in response. The look on her face was horrible, as Marie was almost in tears. She knew that it was never easy saying goodbye.

"Hopefully we can meet again, Axel," Marie said. "We can continue where we left off."

Axel looked at Marie with a sad look, he would never know how it felt to be sad, but for a moment, he almost did. His hand went through her after, disappearing from her. "If we can..."

Marie watched as he left, and didn't quite understand what he meant. She waited for the light, but then a ball of darkness appeared in front of her, and what came out of it... was Zexion. He was badly injured, and barely gasping for air. His eyes were barely opened, and he was just laying there in front of Marie.

"Ten years later..." he started. "...And I still couldn't get away from you."

Marie looked at him, and only gave him a sympathetic look. "No one said to get away from me... you _chose_ to get away."

"And I will... this is not over." asked Zexion.

"I'm sorry... but it is," Marie watched as Zexion disappeared back into the ball of darkness, and what happened to him after that was a mystery to her. She only hoped that he was able to find peace.

A light appeared, and she stretched her hand for it. She got closer and closer, until she was surrounded by light.

**Marie**

I was standing in front of Riku, and he looked a little worn out and was bending down to catch his breath. I walked up to him, and extended my hand out to him. "Hey, Riku... Let's get out of here."

Riku looked up, and chuckled. "I thought Zexion had kidnapped you or something."

"He was about to," I said. "But then you defeated him, so everything's alright now."

He took my hand, and stood up straight. A door appeared in front of us, and we walked through it.

**Zexion and Axel**

Zexion jumped out of his portal, and clung to the wall of his meeting room. He looked around, and began to think of how incredibly powerful Riku was. He never expected Riku to be this powerful, and his plans were ruined. He needed a new one now.

Zexion stared as a portal of darkness appeared. Axel, as well as the replica Riku appeared. Zexion gasped for a moment, but then realized that it was just the replica, and not the real Riku. He suggested to Axel of how they can use the replica to defeat Riku and take Marie. But then Axel disagreed, and Zexion grew furious.

"You know how important she is!" he shouted, and then he suddenly felt a strong hand tightly wrapped around his throat. He looked down, and saw that the replica was absorbing his powers.

"So sorry, Zexion," Axel said. "You just found out way too much."

**Marie**

We had walked out of Destiny Islands, and were back in the white room with the same beige door. We walked towards the next door, until Riku suddenly stopped. I stopped behind him, and we began to hear a voice that was all too familiar; Ansem.

"You have let the darkness in, Riku," he said. "That means very soon your heart will become consumed by darkness."

"I'm not like that now," Riku retorted, and then he suddenly froze, hands lifted at his side, and he couldn't move. I tried going up to him, but a force waved over me, and I was flung back. Riku shouted my name, and I looked at him. I was on the floor and on my knees. I couldn't move, and I only watched as Riku stood there.

Ansem was telling him that the deeper the darkness is in Riku, the stronger Ansem becomes. I looked as Riku struggled, and then a small ball of light appeared in front of Riku, and Ansem grew furious. A bright light surrounded Riku, and then Ansem's voice was no longer heard. We both were able to move, and I immediately ran to Riku.

"Sure glad I made it in time!" we both turned around, and saw the King standing before us! "That oughta keep Ansem busy for a while."

We both sighed out of relief, and the King started walking towards us. "Sorry I couldn't come here sooner, guys."

Riku walked up to the King, and started touching his face. King Mickey started laughing, saying that Riku touching his face tickled. I started laughing, and so did Riku. "This time, you're not an illusion. I'm glad you made it here."

"I did make a promise, didn't I?" Laughed the King. Riku suddenly fell to the floor, and sighed again, both the King and I gasped, but then Riku reassured that he was just relieved. We both sighed, and then Riku asked how the King made it here.

"Well, I was trying to get away from the realm of darkness, and then this card appeared," Mickey took out a card that had a picture of a very peaceful town in it. "I saw your heart beyond the darkness, and I found you. I think the card thought it's place was to be with you."

Mickey gave the card to Riku, and I looked at it. The worlds 'Twilight Town' was right below the picture. Riku got up, and I did as well. We looked at each other, and then at the beige door. A ball of light suddenly appeared in front of us, and we looked at it. I then began to hear a voice... Stella's voice.

_'Marie... I must tell you something.'_

I looked up, and nodded my head. Riku and the King looked at me, and I turned to look at them. "The voice of Kingdom Hearts... Stella is speaking to me," I told them. They both nodded, and stood there as Stella began to speak again.

_'While I was unable to speak to you throughout your journey, I was able to find a way for you to see that Keyblade master, Sora.'_

"A way to see Sora!" I said while being really excited. Riku tilted his head, but continued to stand and stare.

_'Yes, but unfortunately, your journey with Riku ends here. He is strong enough on his own, and he also has the aid of another friend. You have done well, but now it is time for you to go through the light, and you will see.'_

I nodded, and I didn't receive a response from Stella. I was going to see Sora! I turned around, and looked at Riku and the King.

"What did... Stella say?" asked Riku, and I could tell he didn't know what to call Stella at first. I laughed, and clasped my hands together while smiling at them.

"Stella found a way for me to see Sora," I said, but then frowned. "But that means I can't continue with you."

Riku smiled, and walked up to me. "That's no problem, you've helped me through everything, so you deserve this."

"What about you? I want you to see Sora as well!" I said, worried and a little sad.

"I have to overcome my enemies, but don't worry," Riku assured. "I'll see you guys soon, and we'll all go back to the Islands."

I looked at Riku, and we both laughed. I ran up to him, and hugged him real tight. Although I was incredibly sad that I was leaving Riku, I was at least leaving on a good note. We've been friends for so long, and I realized that those feelings of me liking him were gone. I could only think of Riku as a friend now.

I let go of the hug, and I smiled at both of them. "Thank you, your majesty for helping us along the way. I know Riku will make the right choices, and you'll be there for him. Just like Goofy said, I can trust you."

The King laughed, and stuck out his hand for me to shake. "You're very very welcome! Now don't forget Marie, wherever you go, the people you care for will always walk on the same road as you. Riku and I are no different."

I nodded, and I shook his hand goodbye. I looked at both of them, and started chuckling. I could feel the tears starting to swell up, and I started walking towards the ball of light before they could see me start to cry. As I was close to the ball of light, I turned around once more, and waved goodbye.

The last thing I saw from them, was a wave goodbye in return, and smiles.

**Riku**

Riku continued to smile and wave goodbye, until Marie disappeared with the ball of light. He was truly grateful for what she was able to help with, and he wasn't going to forget it. Riku really did believe that he loved Marie, but after spending time together, he realized that she was just his best friend. Nothing more, nothing less. But he was happy for it.

"Well then, shall we go?" asked King Mickey.

"Yeah, let's finish this," Riku replied, still looking at the ball of light. He turned around, and headed to the beige door. He took the card, and raised it up, and the door began to open. Riku walked through the door, and we was met with a very calm and peaceful town, and he looked around. He turned around and called for the King, but he was nowhere in sight. But then all of a sudden Ansem appeared in front of Riku, and demanded that battle him all alone.

Riku prepared himself and raised his blade, but placed it down after realizing that something was off with Ansem. Ansem, in return, mocked Riku and asked why he wasn't fighting.

"You're not the real Ansem," Riku started. "You're scent is different, and the Ansem in my heart smells more foul. Your scent isn't that. It's not darkness, but it's something else."

Riku continued to look at the false Ansem. "Now I understand, you're the one who came to me at the start. You gave me the card, pretending to be Ansem so you could make me face the darkness."

The false Ansem started to change, and smirked as well as chuckled. After his transformation, this person was dressed in red, and his face was covered in red bandages—save for his eyes, which were gold, and his nose and mouth—which had two black belts around it. "DiZ, or so I am known. I've watched you all along."

"Who are you?" asked Riku. "What do you want?"

"To choose," DiZ replied. "You are special, and exist between light and dark. You stand in the twilight. You will meet Naminè, and choose."

"Who's Naminè?" asked Riku.

DiZ began to disappear, and spoke before doing so. "You will know soon."

**Marie**

As I walked through the light, I was in a room that was completely white, and in the middle was a white flower looking pod. I walked around, and looked, but I didn't see anyone until I heard a very gentle voice.

"You must be Marie," I turned around, and I was standing in front of a girl, around my age, with mid-length blonde hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a simple white dress, and white sandals.

"How do you know my name?" I asked, a little nervous. I wasn't able to sense any hostility from her, but I was still on my guard.

"You're the one he cares for," She said. "The one Sora really likes."

My eyes widened, and I walked a little closer to her. "Do you know where Sora is! Please! You have to show me!"

"Sora is right here," she pointed at the pod, and I walked up closer to it. As I did, I noticed that Sora was in there, sleeping. My eyes began to swell up from tears, and could only hug the pod as a means to get closer to Sora.

"You see... Sora is sleeping to get his memories back," the girl explained. "He was starting to lose the memories of his friends, Riku, Kairi, and you, so he chose to forget the memories of this castle so he could get the ones he forgot back."

"Who are you?" I asked, still looking at Sora through the pod. "How do you know about Sora and his memories?"

The girl sighed, and I turned to look at her. She had her head down, and was looking at the floor. She looked up, and then looked at me. "My name is Naminè, and I am a nobody who was created with Sora's memories."

I walked away from Sora for a moment, and walked closer to Naminè. Could it be... what if she... is my nobody? I had to ask her.

"Naminè...are you _my_ nobody?" I asked.

She shook her head, and looked down at the floor. "I'm... Kairi's nobody."

I gave out a low sigh, and realized that no matter what, Kairi was always going to see Sora first... even if it's her nobody. But I guess that didn't matter, Naminè has Sora here, so she must be a good person.

"Naminè...thank you," I said. "I think... if you hadn't placed Sora to sleep I would have never seen him again." I started laughing lightly.

"What will you do now?" she asked. I turned and looked at Sora, sleeping so soundly in his pod. It was then that I heard Stella's voice.

_'These memories are unwanted. Just like the Keyblade master himself, you too will forget the memories in this castle.'_

"Forget what I've seen here...?" I asked. "But what about Riku? Does our Journey mean nothing to you! You can't do this Stella!"

"W-what's going on?" Naminè asked. I looked at her, and then I realized that I must have sound crazy just then. I looked at the floor, and then back at Naminè.

"I have the power of Kingdom Hearts in me," I started. "So I can hear it's voice. Right now, it's telling me to forget the memories from this castle, and I refuse."

"I can understand," she said, and I looked at her with a questioning look. "There is a group of nobodies who need the power of Kingdom Hearts to make them whole. The members who were in this castle have been defeated, so they can't return to tell the rest of the group about you."

"But I don't want to forget!" I shouted. "I don't want to forget about my journey with Riku, I don't want to forget about Axel, and call me crazy but I don't want to forget about Even, Aeleus, and Zexion!"

As soon as I finished shouting, I felt a throbbing pain in my head, and I started clutching it so it would go away. Naminè came close and tried helping me, but nothing she did could help. I fell to my knees, and shouted in pain. I looked up, and I saw Naminè looking scared and worried, and then I looked behind her, and I saw a boy.

A boy who looked so familiar, sleeping in a pod. That was the last thing I saw before passing out.

_'This is for the best. It is not your destiny to know about this things yet.'_

**Naminè and DiZ**

Naminè ran to Marie's side, and tried waking her up. She wasn't waking up, and Naminè started to worry, but then a man appeared. A man... named DiZ appeared.

"What happened to her?" he asked, slowly walking towards Naminè and Marie.

"She collapsed, I think her power had something to do with it," Naminè responded.

"I see," DiZ walked to Sora, and stared at him for a moment before looking back to Naminè and Marie. "Let's get her lying on something softer than the floor. Do you have an idea of why she fell?"

"She said the voice of Kingdom Hearts wanted her to forget the memories from this castle," Naminè responded.

"Interesting," DiZ said. "Could it be that it is doing the same thing you're doing to Sora? Her power has advanced more now that she is older."

Naminè didn't understand what DiZ meant by that, but she was just as concerned for Marie. DiZ, however, was formerly known as Ansem the wise. And when he was betrayed by Xehanort, he fell into the darkness. He used that power to get where he is today. He felt horrible that he couldn't better protect Marie that time, but he was certain he would make sure nothing would harm her. Not even her own nobody.

**Riku**

"So...It's over," the replica of Riku said, laying in a pool of darkness. Shortly after Riku left from meeting DiZ, he encountered the replica of himself right outside an old mansion of Twilight Town. The replica mocked Riku that he could sense everything that the real Riku could, and wanted to prove that he was real. However... as things turned out, Riku defeated his replica, and death was his only prize.

"Death doesn't scare me," he said, lying on the floor. "Good riddance to a phony life... it seems my heart was ever real...my feelings now are probably all fake."

"What _are_ you thinking, now?" Riku asked.

"What happens when a fake like me dies? Where does my heart go? Will it disappear?" the replica Riku looked at the sky, and watched as the sparks of darkness that sprouted from him floated into the sky.

"It'll go somewhere," Riku replied, touching the area where his heart lay. He watched as the replica slowly started to disintegrate into the air, and somehow, he felt bad. The replica suffered, and he was just a victim in a battle. Nonetheless, Riku continued on.

He walked into the mansion, and headed towards the second floor, as the first floor was pretty much in shambles. He entered the first room, and it was a clear room with white walls, and a bi flower-like object in the middle. He looked around, and saw a girl around both Kairi and Marie's age, but was a little taller than Marie, and about the same height as Kairi. She actually looked quite similar to Kairi, except she had blonde hair and blue eyes. He wondered if maybe...

"Are you Naminè?" he asked the petite girl.

"Yes," she replied.

Riku realized by the sound of her voice that she was the one who helped Riku out when he faded into the light. He stared intensely at her, and she gave him a questioning look. He shook his head, and she continued to stare.

"Please, come this way," she said, and walked towards the flower object in the middle. Riku followed, and once he saw what, or who, was inside the flower, he ran up to it. He took a hard look at Sora, and then to Naminè.

"What have you done to Sora!" Riku shouted.

"Nothing. He's just sleeping to get his memory back," she responded. "Just like how she is."

Naminè pointed at a white bed near the pod, and sleeping on it was Marie. Riku gasped lightly, and ran towards her. He gently shook her shoulders, but she was out cold. Naminè gave a low sigh, and walked up to Riku. She had a lot to explain to him.

* * *

Stella's acting a bit of a... _witch_, if I do say so myself.  
Anyways, as you can read, there is a lot that happened.  
But do not fear, it does not end here!  
We still have one more chapter to go, but unfortunately, Marie will only appear briefly at the end. She forgets who Sora is because Stella completely messed up her memories, and she is working hard to erase her memories of the castle, while keeping her old ones. Much like Naminè.

It seems Stella might be up to something as well... but unfortunately, that subject won't be touched until KH3. Yes, I've already thought of something for KH3. =3

Also, **PLEASE READ BELOW, IT'S PRETTY IMPORTANT. LIKE RLY.**  
Recently, I've joined a small jazz band, and I'll be going to practices Mondays and Wednesday, or until I leave for my vacay. Chapter ten of Memory game will be delayed like chapter nine because I have practice tomorrow and practice on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday I have my first concert, so practices have risen for my performance on Wednesday. After wednesday, I will start typing to get the last chapter of Memory game out!

**Thank you:**  
kingdomdisney  
mysterygirl123

**For favoring this story! And thank you** kingdomdisney **for placing this story in your story alert list!**

**xLiesOfLovex:**  
Yay for Axel-Lea-Roxas-Friend-Person-Thing! XD  
Ah, and the sequel, which will be a midquel[weird name, but it's an actual term O_o], shall be out soon... very soon.  
Ohh, and it sounds interesting! Can't wait to read about it. XD

I'm so glad there are so many stories with sequels! It adds more life, and makes me think that the Ocs are actually real. Oh, and I was thinking of adding a 10 chapter prequel of how Marie met everyone and a full description of her childhood.  
I thought the same, but little details are pretty important, that's what I've learned.

**Lele-the-Greek-Geek:**  
Thanks!  
And did you see degrassi!  
Fiona-Drew-Andy[is that his name?] love triangle goin' on!  
Even though Drew's little bro is a girl, I wonder how that's gonna turn out.  
Haha, Aura will literally knock a lot of stuff down. O_o I fear her.  
Ahh, now this should either clear, or make the ending even more confusing.  
And don't worry, Axel isn't going anywhere soon, he'll appear in the next story. XD

**Ruciro Katsura:**  
Well, in reverse/rebirth I got the impression that Axel is very srs, so I thought I would add in more srsnes if he didn't say his catch phrase. So, I'm sorry. T-T  
Toby and Tobi? _?

**burry and bunny:**  
Lulz, a lot of fan girl moments from the previous chapter I see. XD  
Aw, and don't die! Or you won't be able to read the rest! I'll bring my shock paddles to brin you back to life if you die again. =3

**dracula-key:**  
Ahaha, thank you!  
And I hope you liked this chapter! =3

**Kurai-Darkness:**  
I think that's like 3 fan girl moments on this chapter so far. XD I love it!  
I think this chapter was a very emotional one, a lot of goodbyes.  
And well, I think there are two ways to Aura.  
1. You will love her  
2. You will completely think she is a moody witch

And just wait till KH2! She'll definitely be an OC to remember!

**TheEvilMonkey94:**  
Ahaha, behold the cliff-hanger!... even though there isn't one here.

**Alexandria Volturi:**  
Yay!  
And I've noticed a lot of people like Axel. XD  
I've realized I'm not into any of the KH guys, not even Roxas and Ven! And they're blonde!

**Taeniaea:**  
Thank you!

**Choco3Symphony:**  
It's no worries! I'm not one of those writers who write because they want reviews.  
But I'm glad you read, and that's all that matters at the end of the day.  
Oh and I do! But they're so worth it when you're having the time of your life!  
Neither did I lol, when I was watching a walk through when he suddenly started sniffing out the darkness, I was like lolwut?  
Ahaha, and Axel is awesome, and I can understand now why everyone likes him. He completely wiped off all the members, and he didn't have to break much a sweat!  
And well, we reunited, but it was a tad late. DX  
Now we just have to see how it ends for good.

**sajere1:**  
Just one more chapter, and after that you get your wish! XD  
I would love a guy like that, it would totally be hilarious:

"Marly! Attack that guy with your girly flowers! We might not get away in time but your powers are hilarious to watch!"

**warrior of six blades:**  
Thank you! And I hope you stay tuned!

**KingdomHeartsRemixXx:**  
Haha, hoped you liked it!

**kingdomdisney:**  
Lulz, Lea FTW!  
Aw, and thank you! I feel so happy! I hope you continue to read them!

**mysterygirl123:**  
Thank you!  
I'm so happy to get more readers, It's really encouraging!  
And here is chapter nine!

Oh and, **HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!**


	10. Chapter Ten: Road To Dawn

OH MAH GAWD.  
Finally out with chapter ten, so sorry for the late update, but now I'm finally free!

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Road To Dawn**

"So Sora chose to forget about this castle so he can get his old memories back?" asked Riku.

"You need to choose, too," responded Naminè.

"No one has messed with my memories," Riku replied, looking at Marie. "No one has messed with her memories too, so why is she sleeping?"

"The voice that is Kingdom Hearts spoke to her, saying that she would forget everything she saw here," she said. "She struggled against it greatly, it was horrible to see it."

Riku dropped his shoulders, as he couldn't understand why Stella had done what she did. It made him think somewhat differently about the unknown voice, she seemed to have a hidden agenda, but of course Riku could be thinking too much on it. He didn't know the voice, so he could not judge. But he was still disappointed, and he just couldn't believe it. The time they spent together was something he enjoyed so much, and now she won't remember it. He had to stay optimistic about it though, because he knew this wasn't going to be the last time he saw her, and he had his whole life to bond with her. It still sucked though...

Naminè looked at Riku, and placed a hand on her chest where her heart laid. "Ansem is trying to take control of you, and with my powers I can put a lock on your heart so Ansem will never come out from inside you."

"Is that why you want to put me to sleep like Sora? Will I forget everything like him?" asked Riku while being concerned.

"The darkness will be sealed just like your memory," she said. "You'll forget the darkness, and go back to the way you were."

Riku placed a hand on his chest, and looked at Sora. He looked like he wasn't worried, and figured that he would look like that as well. Sora always did what pleased him, and whatever he and Riku would do, he'd be the one to slack off. During the time they were finding a way off Destiny island Riku would do all the work, while Sora slept or played with Tidus, Wakka, Selphie or Kairi.

But Riku figured, if he were asleep, he won't be able to tell Sora just how much of a slacker he was. He laughed to himself, and thought about he time he, Sora and Marie were closing the door after they defeated Ansem. He told Sora to take care of Kairi, and instead he is doing nothing but taking a nap. If he were asleep... he wouldn't be there to scold Sora. His mind was decided.

"I don't need my heart locked," he told Naminè. "I'm ready—I'm gonna fight Ansem."

"But the darkness—"

"It will show me the way," Riku interrupted her.

"...Yes, it will," she said, reassured while smiling at him. "It's better if you face the darkness, you're the only one who can."

Riku placed a finger on his chin, and had a questioning look before looking at Naminè. "I see... that's the reason you helped me inside that light in the form of Kairi."

Naminè gasped, and looked at him, asking him how he knew. He looked at her, and stated that he knew the moment he met her, for she and Kairi smelled the same. It was then that he knew that Naminè is Kairi's nobody, there was no doubt. But one thing bothered him, Kairi had lost her heart, yes. But Sora and Marie also lost their hearts at one point... did they too, have nobodies? And if so, would they be an ally like Naminè? Or possible enemies?

He shook his head, and didn't want to think of any of that. He left for the exit, and told Naminè to take care of both Sora and Marie. She watched him leave, and merely nodded while smiling. She was glad that he was going to face the darkness just like she hoped for. After he left, she turned her attention to the two sleeping teens. She began to see a pink glow on Marie's head, and walked closer.

A heart glowed brightly on Marie's forehead.

**A dream of the past: Marie**

Marie walked around her house in her pajamas, and was smiling and laughing. She didn't want to go to sleep just yet, and wanted to play a small game of hide and seek with her parents.

"Marie, we can play hide and seek all day tomorrow," her mother spoke, walking after her. "But now you have to sleep."

"But I'm not sleepy!" she giggled, now running.

Her father popped out in front of her, and picked her up. She started laughing, as her father began to tickle her. "But you have to sleep! You're going to be a birthday girl tomorrow, and birthday girls need to look their best!"

Marie wrapped her arms around her father's neck, and smiled as he brought her to her room, if course with her mother following close behind. The three of them walked to her room, and her father gently placed her on her bed. She got under the covers, and her mother tucked her in, and smiled.

"I bet you can't wait to be four tomorrow," her mother said, playfully poking her nose.

"It'll be a very special day," her father added in.

"As long as you guys are with me, and we have cake, I'll be happy," she giggled, hiding behind her covers. Her mother giggled lightly, and started stroking her hair.

"We're very happy to have you dear," her mother said. "Your father and I have been trying hard to bring you into this world, and we're glad you are here."

Marie smiled, and although she didn't understand what her mother meant by bringing her into the world, she was very happy to hear that her mother and father love her very much. She grabbed her mother's hand, and looked at her as she spoke. "Mommy, can you sing me that little song again? The one you always sing?"

"Of course, sweetie," her mother replied. "I loved you the first time I saw you, and I always will love you, Marie. You brought joy into our lives, and we always will love you, Marie." **[1]**

Marie's eyes, were closed, and she was slowly falling asleep. Her mother and father smiled, and they both took a turn to kiss her forehead before they left to sleep in their own bed. Marie would always sing that song to herself when both her parents were working, so she would never be alone. When she sang, she felt like her parents were there with her, and it greatly eased her.

Although unknown to her, this song is more important than she thought.

**Riku**

Riku walked through the door that would lead him into the same room that he always went into after visiting a world, and came face to face with the King. He smiled at Riku, and began to speak to him.

"I see you didn't go to sleep," he said, looking at the young boy walk in.

"How did you know?" Riku asked.

"I heard it from DiZ," he replied.

Riku looked around, and saw DiZ standing near the wall. He raised his guard, still not fully trusting the man, and watched as he came walking towards Mickey and him. He stood beside Mickey, and asked him without looking at him if he knew DiZ.

"I'm not sure, I got the feeling that I've met him somewhere," he replied.

Riku grunted, and walked up to DiZ, he asked him just who he was. DiZ didn't give a specific answer, and only told him that he could be anybody or nobody. He then told Riku that it was up to him to believe in him or not.

Of course, Riku commented on now DiZ just likes to push decisions on him. DiZ told him that he has chosen his own path by choosing to face Ansem, and Riku asked him if he was supporting or going to abandoned him. And once again, DiZ gave him the voice to decide. He walked up to him, and handed him a black cloak, a cloak much similar to that of Zexion's and Lexaeus'.

"What's this?" Riku asked.

"The Organization will pursue you," he replied. "Like a pack of hunting dogs, they will sneak up on you if they sense your presence. However, this cloak that is worn by nobodies will render their eyes and their noses useless."

DiZ handed Riku a card, a card that will bring out the darkness in his heart. The card that will lead him to Ansem. Riku looked at both the card, and the cloak, and decided that he was indeed ready to face Ansem. He looked over to the king, and together they left.

Once they headed to the other room, Riku stopped, and looked at the card. The king looked at him, and reassured him that they were going to defeat Ansem together. Riku shook his head, and spoke.

"No, I've gotta defeat Ansem on my own," he said

"But why!" retorted the King.

"There's no point in doing this if I can't do it on my own," he replied. "But I will need a favor. If Ansem wins, he's gonna enslave him. If that happens, use your powers to destr—"

"Of course! I'll be there to save ya!" the king happily replied.

"No, that's not it," Riku corrected. He wanted the king to destroy _him_ should be be enslaved. But he refused, stating that no matter what would happen, he would be there to help him. Riku thanked the king, and walked towards the door. He raised his card, and the door opened for the final time.

This was it, Riku was going to finally face Ansem.

He walked into the room, and instantly started sensing him. "I smell you, Ansem! show yourself!"

in the blink of an eye, Ansem appeared in front of Riku. And started chuckling. He told Riku that he has watched him fight, and knows his strength, commenting that he has matured. He had to ask him, however, as to why he accepted the darkness, but refused him. Riku looked at the floor, and told him that he was not scared of him or anything.

"I just can't stand your foul stench!" he shouted.

Ansem shook his head in disappointment, and said that he was much stronger, but then Riku retorted saying that he had used all the power he had to offer, and yet Sora still beat him. He was not impressed with his powers whatsoever, and let Ansem know.

"Very well, in that case..." he started. "You shall sink into the abyss!"

Ansem had unleashed an incredibly huge amount of darkness, and Riku pulled his Keyblade in front of him to block the waves. He closed his eyes, and felt the darkness surround him. When he opened his eyes, his surrounding had turned into complete darkness, and Ansem stood in front of him with his dark guardian behind him.

Riku pointed his blade at him, and began running towards him. He landed the first attack, and Ansem stumbled a bit. He pushed his guardian in front of him, but Riku quickly took it down. He was rather impressed with his own power, and he was going to use the full extent of his power to defeat Ansem, no matter what.

Ansem threw several dark spheres at him, but he dodged it swiftly. He attacked Ansem a couple of times, and found out that Ansem was stumbling and losing his breath much quicker. He figured that the fight he had with Sora had weaken him, and although he was a little disappointed that he couldn't fight Ansem in his full strength, he was still glad that he had the chance to defeat him himself. This fight was also going to be a lot quicker, and with the right amount of attacks, Ansem would fall to the floor in time.

He attacked Riku with blasts of darkness that came from the palm of his hand, but Riku dodged it again, and attacked him with another set of attacks. This battle was beginning to become a joke to Riku, as Ansem didn't seem like he was trying that hard. But nonetheless, he would defeat him, regardless of his weaken self.

Ansem did have thing that he didn't previously, and that was a new set of spells and attacks. He kept hurling spheres, and blasts of darkness towards Riku, and occasionally made fire spout out from the floor. Some of the were easy to dodge, while others were a little tricky to get around, but they weren't powerful spells. Riku ran up to Ansem, and attacked him quite a few times, which made Ansem draw back for a brief moment.

"Just accept me," Ansem pleaded. "There is no other choice."

Riku attacked him, but he blocked the attack, and returned the attack by hurling another set of dark spheres at him. Riku dodged most of them, and the others he attacked with his Keyblade. "I already told you! I can't stand that smell of yours!"

He ran towards Ansem, and used one of his more stronger attacks to send him staggering backwards. And then attacked a little more before Ansem started blocking again. Riku suddenly felt his dark power rise, and decided to use it against Ansem. A dark aura surrounded Riku as he started to transform as his dark powers rising even more so, and after he transformed, he knew this battle was already over.

Riku spun his blade towards Ansem, and controlling it from afar, Riku made it attack him several times before having it returned to him. Ansem floated, and lifted his hands. Bolts of darkness came from thin air, and Riku rolled around to dodge most of them. He got up from rolling around, and threw his blade at Ansem again, in a boomerang-esque style. He then ran towards Ansem, catching the Keyblade as it returned, and attacked him again.

Ansem pushed the guardian out in front again, and had it protect him for a while. Riku was annoyed at this guardian, and decided to attack it relentlessly. Ansem pulled away from the attacks, and made the guardian extend his arm and swing it at Riku.

He was not going to let Ansem, much less a guardian of his, hurt him. So as the guardian swung his arm, he swung his blade and slashed it's arm, making it disappear and thus rendering it useless. Ansem was pretty fatigued at this point, and Riku took it as the perfect opportunity to attack Ansem with everything that he had.

Riku unleashed a stronger wave of his dark powers, and his Keyblade was glowing a dark hue of purple. He ran towards Ansem, and threw his sword at him again. He ran along with the sword, and as it attacked Ansem, Riku punched him at the same time. A wave of darkness hurled around Ansem, and sucked all of his strength.

"Insolent brat!" Ansem shouted. He used what was left of his power to generate a ball of darkness, and threw it at Riku. Riku blocked it with much effort, and ran towards Ansem with great speed, and stabbed him within a blink of an eye. Ansem stood there shocked, and in pain. He was unable to move, and unable to comprehend that Riku defeated him.

"No... this cannot be!" he shouted, looking at the ceiling.

"Your time is up, Ansem," Riku said, back turned against him.

"My shadow lingers... and someday," he said, grasping for air. "Someday... I **will** return!"

The room filled with darkness as Ansem began to disappear, and Riku covered himself with his Keyblade. As everything faded to black, Riku suddenly began to call out for Sora, Kairi and Marie before everything turned to complete darkness.

"Gosh Riku," a familiar voice spoke to him. "I know you wanted to do this alone... but ya don't mind getting' a _little_ help, do ya?"

A speck of light was noticeable, and the king, his majesty, appeared beside him. He lead him out of the darkness, and into the castle. Riku opened his eyes, and squinted a bit, due to the brightness. The king started walking ahead, and Riku merely followed.

"So, what happens next?" the king asked. "Are ya goin' home?"

"I can't, at least not yet," Riku replied. "It's still here, although faint, I can sense him. I think his darkness may still have a hold on me."

"Your darkness belongs to you, just like your light," the king reassured. "Up till now, I thought darkness was something that should never exist. Then I spent time with you and changed my mind. The road you chose... light and dark, back to back. I'd like to see that road, I'd like to walk the road with ya."

The king extended his hand to him, and Riku laughed whole-heartedly, and extended his hand to the king. Together they shook hands, a symbolism of their friendship. Riku was so flattered, that he didn't know what to say.

"We're pals now, so you don't have to call me 'majesty' now," the king stated.

Riku nodded his head. "Alright, Mickey."

**-x-**

Riku and Mickey walked along a long road with nothing but grass and occasional trees. Although both Riku and Mickey didn't know it, the road was the same one Sora once walked through.

At the crossroad, DiZ stood there, waiting for the two. They both approached him, and Riku looked at him before asking him a question. "What are you making me choose now?"

"Between the road to light—and the road to darkness," he stated.

"Neither suits me," Riku confessed, walking past DiZ. "I'm taking the middle road."

"You mean the twilight road to nightfall?" DiZ asked.

"No," Riku said. After everything that had happened, starting from seeing his home being devoured by darkness and joining it soon afterward, to helping Sora and Marie save the worlds in the end, he was truly in between light... and dark. The road to nightfall could just as well be described as going into the dark, and that was not going to work for him. no... the road where he _wanted_ to go was...

"The road to dawn."

**A week later**

DiZ and Naminè were preparing to transport Sora into the basement of a mansion that resided in Twilight Town, and they were also preparing a bed for Marie. They didn't, or at least, DiZ didn't want to keep Marie in a pod like Sora. Seeing her sleep for a long time bothered him, as it brought memories of her coma. He figured that placing her in a comfortable bed would ease his mind, and made him think she was just sleeping instead of sleeping to forget her memories of Castle Oblivion.

However, while they were preparing, something happened. Marie's body began to glow a light shade of pink, and soon enough a protective orb surrounded her. Both DiZ and Naminè ran up to see what was happening, and DiZ tried to see what was happening. As he tried touching the orb, the room was surrounded by a bright light, and nearly blinded both Naminè and DiZ. They were forced to close their eyes and cover them, and when they opened them, they both stood in surprise.

Marie had disappeared.

**-x-**

Hayner, Pence, and Olette were doing their usual after school, and that was hanging out at their hideout. Pence had noticed that the sea-salt ice cream they kept in their little cooler were all gone, so all three of them opted to go get some more.

They walked outside of their hideout, and almost instantly, Olette noticed a girl lying on the floor. She told the boys, and they all ran up to her. She was still breathing, and Olette tried waking her up by shaking her. She wasn't walking up.

Pence asked if he should get an adult, but Hayner quickly disagreed, stating that he knew how to wake her up. She put his fingers on Marie's nose, and pressed her nostrils together so that the air wouldn't come in. in other words, make her stop breathing.

Olette began to freak out stating they're going to get in trouble if he did that, but soon enough the girl began to move, and jerked around. Hayner started laughing, but was soon met with a hard slap to his face.

"What the heck is wrong with you!" the girl shouted, rubbing her nose. "You could have killed me!"

"Well, you seem pretty alive to me," he replied.

"...Shut-up," she said. She looked around, and noticed that her surroundings were very...orange and yellow, to say the least. She looked at the three, and raised her eye brow.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"Twilight Town," Olette replied. "Don't you remember our town? You live here, right?"

The girl looked at the floor, and tried remembering, but the only thing she could remember was her name. She couldn't remember where she was from, or who she was, or if she had a family. She looked at them, and told them her name and how she couldn't remember anything else but her name.

"Oh..." Pence replied, not really knowing what to say. Hayner started laughing, and commented on how she looked terrible. Her hair was a mess, and her clothes were wrinkled and dirty. Hayner also commented on how she smelled, which he received a push from Olette. She was the nicest of the three, and extended her hand to the girl.

"Well, Marie, you can stay with me until you remember," she said. "We'll show you around, oh! And you have to try the ice cream we have here!"

Marie looked at Olette's hand, and then at her. She gave a sincere smile, and took her hand. The first thing Hayner suggested for Marie to do was to take a shower, and Olette pushed him again. But he was right, she did needed to clean up. As she walked back to Olette's place, a voice was heard.

_When he awakens, you will remember.  
Yet I wonder, will 'you' accept that 'he' will become one?_

**The End**

* * *

**[1]** It's a song from Randy Newman named Marie, but I changed the second line. The song is in the movie Paulie, a really cute movie might I add, and I thought it appropriate a guess, to use.

We are finally finished Memory Game, and you guys don't know how happy I feel now that I finished my second story. W00T! I've already finished the first chapter of the next story, Nameless Days, and I'll be posting it immediately. Thank you everyone for reading this story and sticking with it till the end. I can't tell you how happy I am to know that there are people reading this story, I thought Game Over wouldn't get readers, but wow. I was in complete shock. Thank you guys, a lot!  
As I take my leave, I have just one question:

Who is 'you', and who is 'he'? -snickers-

I'd like to thank EVERYONE who favored and placed this story in their story alert list, you guys are truly awesome, and I hope you continue to read my other stories that I have planned out for Marie. I'd like to thank Roxy McCartney for favoring this story recently as well.

**dracula-key:**  
Thanks! I hope you like the ending!

**Lele-the-Greek-Geek:**  
You saw it! XD  
Oh, and I can't wait for tomorrow! Something goes down between Holly J and Jenna.  
And well, after this I will be posting the Nameless days, so be sure to check that out soon. Aura is more intense, but she's a deep thinker. And since she's a nobody, she's always questioning life.  
Oh, I know. T_T  
But maybe that last line will provide some...insight for KH2.  
Thank you! I hope you liked this last chapter too!

**burry and bunny:**  
Yes you are, and thank you! My 100th review on a story that has ten chapters. I feel so accomplished!  
Well, here is the last chapter, and I really hope you liked it!

**kingdomdisney:**  
I know! Stella has some explaining to do!

**Kurai-Darkness:**  
Yay! Well, we'll see Aura next, as her story is on it's way!

**TheEvilMonkey94:**  
Yes, I am! I love it a lot, too.  
Thank you as well, and I hope this chapter was worth the wait.

**sajere1:**  
Yes, yes she is.  
And yes, yes he is. XD  
And yes! It's going to be on it's way!  
Lulz, I would ask that you record so I can have a laugh. xD

**Alexandria Volturi:**  
Thank you!  
And haha, well Axel's cool. I actually don't like any of the boys in KH, although I think I said that before I think.  
Yes, I like blondes, I dunno why. They're just attractive lol.

**xLiesOfLovex:**  
LOL, Stella stealing cookies. XD  
and thank you!  
It's gonna be 35/2 days, since that game is a midquel itself.  
AND I KNOW! O_o But I may have a plot that can still be placed in KH3 regardless if the game itself is different.  
PETER PAN!  
Oh cool, it should be interesting!  
And that happens to me too, when I don't want it to happen.  
I hate stories that go unfinished too, especially if it's too good to unfinish.  
I love a well-balanced OC, and I love OC stories too. I know people have different opinions, but it's not their story, so they should accept it as it is.  
Ahh the sues, they kill me in a hilarious way. You should read My Immortal... wait don't. You might get writer's block, as I did.  
I don't know how well I'm doing with Marie, as she's the first OC I've actually done a complete story with.[other times I create an OC and then I get angry at it and scrap the whole idea completely.]  
For some reasons, I'm treating my stories like games, like if I make a prequel or midquel I have ti make it short. Just like how BBS and 358/2 are side games. I save the real action for the main games.

**warrior of six blades:**  
Thank you! And I hope you liked this chapter as well!

**Choco3Symphony:**  
It's so tragic, I know. But I guess that's what I'm good at, lulz.  
But I agree, Stella has some good reasonin' to do about it. Or maybe she doesn't? Stella is a bit mysterious.  
Axel never works hard, we should all know that. XD but he is awesome!  
And they will, I just don't know where and how. DX  
Yeah, Riku was distraught over it, but even if they have have to start over, I'm sure he won't mind.  
And thank you! We did really well, and I really enjoyed it!  
My best friend plays the alto sax, and she's the reason why I joined up, so I could spend more time with her. As for me, I play second trumpet. Sometimes third.

**Ruciro Katsura:**  
I don't want to add in every quote to the story, and there are some quotes I forget to put in. and then I add in useless ones. -_-  
Meh, I'm still growing as a writer, I guess.  
Haha, that's pretty hilarious. I would like to hear that. xD


End file.
